THE    OUTLOOK    IN     IRELAND. 


THE    OUTLOOK 
IN  IRELAND: 

THE  CASE  FOR   DEVOLUTION   AND 
CONCILIATION. 


BY   THE   RIGHT   HONOURABLE 
THE    EARL    OF    DUNRAVEN,    K.P. 


NEW  YORK: 

E.  P.  BUTTON  &  CO.,  31  WEST  23RD  STREET. 
MCMVII. 


DUBLIN 

PRINTED  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  fRt 
SV  PONSONBY  *  GIBBS. 


AUTHOR'S   NOTE. 


IT  is  hoped  that  this  volume  may  serve  a  beneficial 
purpose  in  explaining  the  present  social,  political,  and 
industrial  condition  of  Ireland,  and  the  necessity  which 
exists  for  reform — reform  along  several  lines,  and  not 
exclusively  in  the  system  of  government ;  and  that  the 
statistical  matter,  both  in  the  text  and  in  the  Appendices, 
will  prove  of  service  during  discussions  on  Irish  affairs. 
An  endeavour  has  been  made  to  give  official  figures  of  the 
latest  date  bearing  on  various  phases  of  Irish  life,  and 
thus  to  render  the  volume  useful  as  a  convenient  reference- 
book  to  Irish  matters. 

In  compiling  this  volume  use  has  been  made,  as  con- 
venient, of  matter  which  has  appeared  from  time  to  time 
in  various  forms. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

INTRODUCTION  ...  .  .       i 

CHAPTER 

I.  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  .      10 

II.  PAST  TRADE  RELATIONS  WITH  ENGLAND  .  .      39 

III.  LAND  PURCHASE  DIFFICULTIES      .           .  .50 

IV.  IRELAND'S  INDUSTRIAL  FUTURE     .           .  -74 
V.  IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS     .           .  .89 

VI.  EDUCATIONAL  CHAOS  .  .  .  .     nt 

VII.  IRELAND'S  NEEDS       .  .  .  .  .137 

VIII.  THE  Two  UNIONS:  PROSPERITY  AND  DISTRESS.     177 
IX.  MODELS  OF  DEVOLUTION  IN  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE     192 
X.  DEVOLUTION  AND   UNIONISM  :    A   CONSISTENT 

POLICY          ......    225 

XI.  FINAL  WORDS  .  .  .  .  .  .237 

APPENDICES. 

I.  THE  IRISH  REFORM  ASSOCIATION'S  PROGRAMME    271 
II.  INDIRECT  AND  DIRECT  TAXATION,  AND  ITS 

INCIDENCE    .  .  .  .  .  .281 

III.  IRELAND'S  Loss  OF  POPULATION    .  .  .    283 

IV.  BRITISH  AND  IRISH  PROGRESS        .  .  .285 
V.  BRITISH  AND  IRISH  REVENUES       .           .  .286 

VI.   THE  WYNDHAM-MACDONNELL   CORRESPONDENCE      288 

VII.  THE  HOME  RULE  BILLS  :  SUMMARIES        .  .    291 


THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 


INTRODUCTION. 

THE    OPPORTUNITY. 

1UEVER  before  in  the  modern  history  of 
*^  Ireland  has  the  outlook — political,  indus- 
trial, and  social — been  as  favourable  as  at  the 
present  moment  for  a  strenuous  effort  for  her 
regeneration.  And  yet  never  before  has  the 
situation  been  so  critical.  The  fate  of  the 
country  is  in  the  balance.  If  "the  pre- 
dominant partner"  will  continue  to  evidence 
the  desire  to  deal  justly,  generously,  and 
intelligently  with  Ireland ;  and  if  Ireland  will 
recognize  that  desire,  and  will  show  prudence, 
moderation,  and  a  conciliatory  spirit,  an  oppor- 
tunity will  be  made  for  shifting  the  country  from 
a  downward  and  permanently  placing  her  upon 
an  upward  grade.  If  these  conditions  are  not 
fulfilled,  an  opening  which  may  never  present 
itself  again  will  be  lost,  to  the  infinite  detriment, 
if  not  to  the  absolute  destruction,  of  Ireland. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  people  of  Great 

B 


2  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

Britain  are  favourably  disposed  towards  Ireland. 
It  is  true  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  inflame 
their  passions  against  her  prior  to  the  General 
Election  of  1906  ;  they  were  threatened  that 
if  they  returned  a  Liberal  Government  they 
would  be  committing  the  country  to  a  policy 
of  Repeal.  The  attempt  failed.  The  menace 
produced  no  feeling  of  panic,  because  the 
electors  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales  real- 
ized that  it  was  a  false  alarm  raised  to  serve 
party  purposes.  The  bogie  was  all  the  more 
transparent  to  their  eyes,  because  the  public 
in  Great  Britain  remembered  all  the  incidents 
which  preceded  Mr.  Wyndham's  resignation 
of  the  office  of  Chief  Secretary ;  and  accepted 
fully  the  assurances  of  the  Liberal  leaders 
that,  whatever  their  ultimate  aspirations  might 
be,  their  immediate  practical  policy  was  to 
take  up  the  threads  of  Irish  administration  at 
the  point  at  which  Mr.  Wyndham  had  been 
compelled  to  lay  them  down,  and  to  endeavour 
so  to  mould  the  administration  gradually  and 
on  well-considered  lines  as  to  render  Irish 
government  in  accord  with  Irish  ideas.  All 
immediate  danger  from  this  foolish  attempt  of 
"  official  Unionism "  is  past ;  and  the  Irish 
people  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that 
they  have  in  the  new  Parliament  a  huge 
majority,  honestly  desirous  of  doing  justice  to 
their  country. 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

The  principal  items  in  the  programme  agreed 
upon  between  Mr.  Wyndham  and  Sir  Antony 
MacDonnell,  and  presumably  concurred  in  by 
Mr.  Arthur  Balfour,  were  the  solution  of  the 
Land  Question;  the  co-ordinate  control  and 
direction  of  Boards  and  other  administrative 
agencies;  the  settlement  of  the  education 
problem ;  the  promotion  of  material  improve- 
ment and  administrative  conciliation  ;  the  con- 
solidation and  increase  of  existing  grants  for 
Irish  local  purposes  ;  the  development  of  transit 
for  agricultural  and  other  products,  "possibly 
by  guarantees  to  railways  on  the  Canadian 
model,"  &C.1 

Some  of  these  projects  have  been  already 
carried  out ;  and  the  Government  are  pledged  to 
take  up  the  remainder.  They  are  pledged,  above 
all,  to  bring  in  a  measure  according  to  Ireland 
a  large  extension  of  self-governing  power. 
They  may  be  confidently  expected  to  take  a 
wise,  just,  and  perhaps  even  a  generous  view 
of  Ireland's  circumstances,  and  to  be  ready  to 
do  all  in  their  power  to  foster  and  encourage 
the  policy  of  conciliation  upon  which  everything 
depends. 

The  burden  of  responsibility  for  the  future  of 
the  country  rests,  therefore,  less  upon  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  people  of  Great  Britain  than  upon 

1  See  Appendix  VI. 


4  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

the  inhabitants  of  Ireland.  By  the  exercise  of 
self-control ;  by  bearing  in  mind  the  legislative 
limitations  of  any  Government  in  dealing  with 
reform,  and  with  all  the  phases  of  an  intricate 
problem ;  by  preserving  the  peaceful  condition 
of  the  country,  and  refusing  to  lend  themselves 
to  any  form  of  unconstitutional  agitation,  they 
can  give  the  Government  the  powerful  assist- 
ance which  is  essential  for  the  successful  fulfil- 
ment of  the  policy  to  which  they  are  committed. 
The  sound  policy  of  moderation  and  concilia- 
tion makes  progress,  gradually  it  is  true,  but 
more  rapidly  than  external  circumstances  may 
seem  to  indicate.  The  whole  policy  has  met 
with  bitter  opposition ;  no  stone  has  been  left 
unturned  which  can  be  used  to  arouse  religious 
and  political  animosity  in  Great  Britain  against 
the  Irish  people ;  and  no  means  have  been 
neglected  of  causing  dissension  in  Ireland.  The 
struggle  is  a  hard  one,  and  spectators  must 
bear  in  mind  that  vehemence  of  expression  on 
the  part  of  extremists  is  likely  to  rise  in  pro- 
portion to  the  headway  that  conciliation  makes. 
Is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  in  such  a  crisis 
Irishmen  who  really  and  truly  desire  to  see 
their  country  happy  and  prosperous  will  adopt 
a  large-minded  attitude  towards  each  other ; 
will  deal  fairly  by  one  another ;  will  honestly 
co-operate  in  avoiding  causes  of  friction,  and  in 
discouraging  any  recurrence  of  agitation  and  any 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

semblance  of  disorder  which  can  be  so  distorted 
and  exaggerated  as  to  hamper  a  Government 
which,  apart  from  all  party  issues,  is,  I  believe, 
honestly  anxious  to  do  all  in  its  power  to  help 
Ireland  to  rescue  herself  from  the  misfortunes 
which  have  so  long  afflicted  her  ? 

To  hold  out  the  open  hand  of  fellowship 
one  to  another ;  to  meet  "  the  predominant 
partner"  half-way,  and  show  a  desire  to  be- 
come an  active,  prosperous,  useful  member 
of  that  partnership ;  to  put  aside  personal 
jealousies,  sectional  quarrels,  and  animosities 
of  class ;  to  cultivate  a  sense  of  proportion, 
and  recognize  limitations;  to  be  practical  and 
have  the  wisdom  to  take  and  make  the  most  of 
what  will  be  of  inestimable  advantage  to  their 
country,  even  though  it  may  fall  short  of  that 
which  many  of  them  consider  their  due;  to 
hold  their  country's  welfare  above  all  things 
dear ;  to  place  the  national  cause  before  party, 
the  community  before  self;  to  stand  fast  by  the 
great  principle  of  conciliation — that  is  the  part 
Irishmen  must  play  if  they  would  seize  an 
opportunity  which  may  never  occur  again  to 
give  their  common  country  a  chance  of  re- 
establishing herself? 

What  can  Ireland  do  ?  She  can  be  concilia- 
tory, willing  to  believe  that  justice  will  follow 
upon  reasonable  demands,  and  prosperity  upon 
justice. 


6  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

What  can  Great  Britain  do  ?  If  the  British 
people  will  meet  the  Irish  people  half-way  ;  if 
they  will  recognize,  respond  to,  and  cherish  the 
feeling  of  confidence  in  Parliament  that  has 
grown  up  in  the  sister  island  during  the  last 
few  years  ;  if  they  will  back  up  the  Govern- 
ment, they  have  before  them  now  a  unique 
opportunity  of  gradually  improving  the  whole 
economic  and  social  circumstances  of  Ireland, 
of  effecting  a  wholesome  change  in  the  re- 
lations between  the  two  islands,  and  of  greatly 
strengthening  the  whole  fabric  of  the  Empire. 

I  do  not  say  that  an  opportunity  exists  of 
settling  for  ever  "  the  Irish  question."  Matters 
of  so  general  and  broad  a  character  can  never 
be  said  to  be  settled  ;  finality  in  the  require- 
ments and  career  of  a  community  is  impossible, 
save  in  its  extinction.  So  long  as  the  Empire 
and  the  United  Kingdom  last,  there  will  be 
Imperial,  British,  and  Irish  questions,  and 
problems  arising  out  of  them  to  be  dealt  with. 
But  I  do  say  that  we  have  now  before  us  a 
chance,  such  as  has  not  offered  itself  for  a 
century  and  more,  of  settling  all  the  more 
acute  problems  of  the  day,  and  of  establishing 
far  happier  relations  between  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  than  have  previously  existed. 

To  attain  such  a  frame  of  mind,  and  to  form 
such  a  conception  of  Ireland  as  will  enable  them 
to  seize  this  opportunity,  the  British  people 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

must  recognize  one  fact,  and  divest  themselves 
of  one  delusion.  The  great  and  fundamental 
mistake  that  the  English  people  have  made  is 
in  attempting  to  turn  Ireland  into  England. 
Since  Ireland  was  handed  over  to  England 
in  the  year  1155,  every  effort  has  been 
made  to  extirpate  the  Irish  race,  and  to  pre- 
serve the  purity  of  the  Anglo-Norman  blood. 
With  marvellous  but  mistaken  pertinacity 
England  has  laboured  to  anglicize  Ireland  for 
some  eight  hundred  years,  and  she  has  failed. 
Has  not  the  experiment  been  tried  long 
enough  ?  It  is  unnecessary,  surely,  to  investi- 
gate causes,  to  set  out  reasons  why  Ireland 
has  not,  does  not,  and  never  will  become 
English.  For  a  practical,  common-sense  people, 
the  fact  should  be  sufficient.  No  means  were 
left  untried  to  stamp  out  the  originality  and 
distinctive  characteristics  of  race.  Land  was 
confiscated  over  and  over  again,  Irish  surnames 
were  interdicted,  the  use  of  the  Irish  language 
was  forbidden,  native  costumes  and  customs 
were  placed  under  the  ban  of  the  law  and  of  the 
Church.  But  the  Irish  not  only  remained  Irish, 
but  assimilated  the  Anglo-Norman  element  as 
fast  as  it  was  introduced.  That  is  the  fact,  and 
the  English  people  have  got  to  admit  it.  They 
must  realize  that  they  cannot  anglicize  Ireland ; 
and,  having  admitted  that  fact,  they  will  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  they  must  proceed  to 
work  on  other  lines. 


8  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

The  British  public — not  enlightened  men,  of 
course,  but  the  general  public — have,  I  think, 
considerable  difficulty  in  realizing  the  intense 
pride  of  the  Irish  people  in  their  nationality  and 
the  justification  that  exists  for  it.  They  do  not 
understand  what  there  is  to  be  proud  of,  or  why 
the  Irish  people  should  not  be  delighted  to 
merge  themselves  in  the  wealth  and  strength  of 
Great  Britain.  They  are  under  a  delusion,  and 
the  delusion  is  due  to  historical  ignorance. 
They  forget  that  for  centuries  Ireland  was  in  all 
respects  in  the  forefront  of  western  civilization. 
They  do  not  remember  that  during  critical  ages 
Ireland  held  aloft  and  sheltered  the  struggling 
flame  of  Christianity.  They  are  ignorant  of  the 
fact  that  when  art  and  learning  were  well-nigh 
extinguished  in  Europe,  they  were  cherished, 
nurtured,  and  kept  alive  in  Ireland.  They  do 
not  understand  the  natural  pride  in  the  mere 
fact  that,  in  spite  of  every  effort  to  deprive  her 
of  nationhood,  Ireland  remains  Ireland  to  this 
day.  To  come  down  to  modern  times,  they 
neglect  the  evidence  of  capacity  for  trade  and 
commerce  displayed  by  the  Irish  people,  and 
the  means  whereby  trade  and  commerce  were 
crushed  out.  Physical  courage  appears  to  be 
the  only  quality  inherent  in  the  race  which 
is  recognized.  For  the  rest,  though  it  is 
admitted  that  Ireland  has  given  us  great 
soldiers,  administrators,  and  statesmen,  the 


INTRODUCTION.  Q 

traditional  stage  Irishman,  a  sufficiently  ridicu- 
lous, capering  person,  seems  to  set  the  general 
estimate  of  the  race.  It  is  a  very  false 
one.  The  Irish  people  have  characteristics 
and  a  history  of  which  they  are  proud,  and  of 
which  they  have  every  right  to  be  proud.  If 
the  people  of  Great  Britain  will  acknowledge 
the  fact  that  Ireland  cannot  be  converted  into 
so  many  shires  of  England,  and  if  they  will  rid 
themselves  of  the  delusion  that  no  real  justifica- 
tion exists  for  pride  in  Irish  nationality,  they  will 
infallibly  come  to  three  sound  conclusions  : — 
Firstly,  that  if  Ireland  is  to  develop,  she  must 
be  allowed  to  develop  on  her  own  lines ;  secondly, 
that  for  the  venom  in  the  sting  of  memory, 
respect,  forbearance,  and  just  dealing  are  the 
only  antidotes ;  and,  thirdly,  that  it  is  only  by 
admitting  and  encouraging  the  sense  of  her  own 
nationality  that  a  feeling  of  larger  nationality 
and  true  Imperial  sentiment  in  Ireland  can  be 
created  and  nurtured  into  healthy  life. 


10  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS. 

UNDER  the  provisions  of  the  Land  Act  of  1903, 
the  agricultural  land  of  Ireland  is  passing  from 
its  former  owners  into  the  hands  of  occupying 
proprietors.  The  Irish  people  are  becoming  the 
owners  of  Ireland  in  a  sense  and  to  an  extent 
which  was  never  contemplated  by  practical 
politicians  before  the  meeting  of  the  Land  Con- 
ference which  preceded  the  introduction  of  Mr. 
Wyndham's  Bill.  The  radical  character  of  the 
recommendations  of  the  Conference,  and  the 
practical  concurrence  of  the  landed  classes  in 
those  recommendations,  while  heralding  a  period 
of  greater  content  and  the  healing  of  old  sores, 
were  in  reality  a  signal  of  distress  from  the  Irish 
to  the  English  people,  a  cry  for  help  to  apply 
a  drastic  but  wholesome  remedy  to  a  desperately 
unhealthy  condition  of  things.  Year  by  year 
the  country  had  been  sinking  deeper  and  deeper 
in  misfortune:  it  had  reached  the  point  at 
which  it  had  to  be  decided  whether  the  down- 
ward tendency  was  to  continue  to  the  inevitable 
and  most  melancholy  end,  or  whether  a  supreme 
effort  should  be  made  to  lift  the  country  out  of 
national  bankruptcy  in  man-power,  intelligence, 


ECONOMIC    AND    SOCIAL    CONDITIONS.  II 

and  material  prosperity  which  so  imminently 
threatened  it.  Mr.  Wyndham's  great  Act  was 
the  first  step  in  the  right  direction.  It  has  made 
all  things  possible ;  but  alone  it  will  not  suffice. 
Ireland  is  sick  almost  to  death.  The  wise 
man  makes  a  careful  diagnosis  of  his  patient 
before  attempting  to  prescribe  ;  but  in  Ireland's 
case  the  origins  of  distressing  symptoms  have 
become  so  obscured  that  physicians  are  apt  to 
confound  cause  with  effect.  Owing  to  the  inter- 
necine warfare  which  for  many  years  has  been 
one  of  the  main  occupations,  if  not  recreations, 
of  a  majority  of  the  people  of  Ireland,  the  atten- 
tion of  England  and  the  world  has  been  directed 
away  from  the  causes  of  Ireland's  distressful 
condition  to  the  quarrels  of  parties  as  to  the 
best  remedies  to  be  applied.  The  aspect  of 
the  history  of  Ireland  which  has  most  strongly 
impressed  itself  upon  the  minds  of  those  who 
live  on  the  other  side  of  the  Irish  Channel  has 
been  the  bitterness  of  sectarian  strife,  and  the 
warfare  of  party  politicians.  The  disease,  for 
which  extreme  partisans  have  been  vehemently 
suggesting  violent  remedies,  has  been  lost  sight 
of  amid  the  din  of  battle  ;  and  while  the  quarrels 
have  gone  on  from  year  to  year,  Ireland  has 
been  slipping  swiftly  downward  in  all  that 
goes  to  make  for  physical  health,  intellectual 
progress,  and  material  well-being.  It  is  very 
desirable,  therefore,  to  consider  the  actual 
condition  of  Ireland,  and  the  causes  of  that 


12  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

condition,  before  attempting  to  form  any  theory 
or  policy  for  her  relief. 

It  is  necessary,  in  the  first  place,  to  note  one 
of  the  most  curious  and  pathetic  features  in 
Irish  history  to-day.  By  some  strange  mis- 
understanding the  British  people  have  come  to 
regard  the  Irish  as  a  race  lacking  in  the  primary 
virtues  which  make  for  happiness  and  prosperity, 
a  people  indolent,  thriftless,  and  inordinately 
addicted  to  drink.  Never  was  a  race  more 
cruelly  libelled.  The  Irishman  is  a  hard 
worker  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe ;  and 
if  he  does  not  always  display  the  same 
energy  at  home,  in  common  fairness  his 
circumstances  and  environment,  insufficient 
food,  insanitary  dwellings,  and  the  general  de- 
pression brooding  over  the  country,  must  be 
taken  into  account.  If  the  people  could  be 
persuaded  that  bread  and  stewed  tea  form  a 
bad  diet  for  adults  and  are  poison  for  children, 
it  would  perhaps  be  as  beneficial  as  many  Acts 
of  Parliament.  The  average  Irishman  is  no 
more  a  model  of  sobriety  and  virtue  than  the 
average  man  to  be  met  with  in  other  parts  of 
the  United  Kingdom.  Ireland  is  not  absolutely 
exceptional.  Ireland  is  inhabited,  as  are 
England,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  by  human 
beings  of  all  sorts,  and  in  common  with 
Great  Britain  she  possesses  an  unfortunate 
variety  of  men  and  women  in  almost  every 
stage  of  social  degeneration :  but  the  Irish  are 


ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.  13 

not  particularly  addicted  to  drink ;  they  are 
distinctly  less  criminally  inclined  than  the  in- 
habitants of  Great  Britain ;  and  in  no  country  in 
the  world  have  the  people  reached  a  higher 
standard  of  morality.  In  fact,  the  casual  visitor 
to  Ireland,  who  spends  a  few  weeks  away  from 
the  beaten  track  in  some  Irish  village,  is  usually 
impressed  with  the  extreme  dulness  of  life,  and 
is  invariably  struck  by  the  rigid  rectitude  with 
which  the  moral  code  is  observed.  This  charac- 
teristic of  country  life  in  Ireland  has  even  been 
put  forward  in  partial  explanation  of  the  great 
flood  of  emigration  to  America.  It  is  said  that 
Irish  life  is  so  deadly  monotonous,  is  so  lacking 
in  all  the  allurements  and  attractions  of  modern 
civilization,  and  so  devoid  of  all  the  pleasures 
which  are  gained  by  social  intercourse,  that 
the  young  people  welcome  emigration  in  the 
hope  not  only  that  the  new  world  will  right 
the  balance  of  the  old,  but  that  in  a  new 
environment  they  may  find  life  more  varied 
and  attractive.  Be  this  as  it  may,  let  us 
recognize  that  the  Irish  are  not  a  race  of 
shiftless  drunkards. 

It  may  come  as  a  surprise  to  the  virtuous 
Englishman,  who  accepts  this  charge  against 
the  people  of  the  neighbouring  island,  that  the 
Irishman  drinks  less  than  the  people  of  any 
other  part  of  the  United  Kingdom.  This 
statement  is  not  made  on  ex-parte  evidence, 
but  is  based  upon  the  figures  prepared  by  the 


THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 


Rev.  Dr.  Dawson  Burns,  the  well-known  Tem- 
perance advocate.  He  has  compiled  three 
most  interesting  tables  in  order  to  show  the 
extent  to  which  each  division  of  the  Kingdom 
contributed  to  the  expenditure  of  £164,167,941 
during  the  year  1905.  From  these  statistics  it 
will  be  seen  that  in  Scotland  the  consumption 
of  spirits  is  i'6  gallon  per  head  of  the  popula- 
tion annually,  or  twice  as  great  per  head  of  the 
population  as  it  is  in  England,  while  it  exceeds 
that  of  Ireland  by  '6  gallon  per  head,  the 
Scotsman  spending  on  spirits  i6s.  3d.  per  head 
during  the  year  more  than  the  Irishman.  Con- 
trary to  popular  belief,  Ireland  consumes  a 
considerable  quantity  of  malt  liquor,  although 
the  figure  falls  much  below  the  consumption  of 

England. 

ENGLAND. 

Population,  34,152,977. 


Liquors. 

Quantities 
Consumed. 

Per 
Head. 

Expenditure. 

Per 
Head. 

British  Spirits  (gallons)     ... 
Other  Spirits          ,, 

Total  Spirits  (gallons)  ... 

Beer  (barrels)     ... 
Wine  (gallons)    ... 
Other  Liquors  (gallons)    ... 

22,305,046 
5,496,567 

Gals. 

£29,554,186 
7,282,951 

— 

27,801,613 

•8 

£36,837,137 

£i    i    6 

29,670,937 
10,153,759 
I4,OOO,OOO 

31-3 
•3 
'4 

£88,812,961 

9,138,383 
I,4OO,OOO 

£2   12     2 

o    5    4 

0      0   10 

£136,388,481 

£3    19   10 

The  consumption  of  beer  in  England  is  estimated  by  adding 
one-fourth  of  the  quantity  paying  duty  in  Scotland  and  Ireland 
to  the  quantity  paying  duty  in  England. 


ECONOMIC    AND    SOCIAL    CONDITIONS. 


SCOTLAND. 

Population,  4,676,603. 


Liquors. 

Quantities 
Consumed. 

Per 

Head. 

Expenditure. 

Per 
Head. 

British  Spirits  (gallons)  •  ... 
Other  Spirits 

Total  Spirits  (gallons)  ... 

Beer  (barrels) 
Wine  (gallons)    ... 
Other  Liquors  (gallons)    ... 

6,667,156 
689,143 

Gals. 

^8,833,982 

9I3-H5 

- 

7,356,299 

1-6 

;£  9,747,097 

£2    i    8 

1,188,929 
1,194,560 
5OO,OOO 

9-0 

'3 

•01 

£3>566,787 
1,075,104 
50,000 

£o  15    3 

047 
003 

£14,438,988 

£3     I     9 

IRELAND. 

Population,  4,390,208. 


Liquors. 

Quantities 
Consumed. 

Per 
Head. 

Expenditure. 

Per 
Head. 

British  Spirits  (gallons)    ... 
Other  Spirits          „ 

Total  Spirits  (gallons)  ... 

Beer  (barrels)     ... 
Wine  (gallons)   ... 
Other  Liquors  (gallons)    ... 

3,626,780 
585,124 

4,211,854 

Gals. 

£4,805,417 
775,289 

_ 

I'O 

£5-580.706 

£7,172,214 
537.552 
50,000 

^LJ 

£i  12    8 
026 
003 

2,390-738 
597-280 
500,000 

2-0 
•I 
•I 

£13,340,472 

£3    o  10 

While  the  average  expenditure  in  the  United 
Kingdom  in  1905  was  equal  to  £3  155.  n£d., 
the  average  in  each  division  of  the  Kingdom 
was: — England, £3  igs. iod.;  Scotland,^  is.gd.; 
and  Ireland,  £3  os.  iod.  England  spent  more 
per  head  than  Scotland  or  Ireland  on  beer,  and 
Scotland  more  per  head  on  spirits  than  England 
or  Ireland. 


l6         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

Putting  aside  "  wine  and  other  liquors  "  as  not 
affecting  popular  consumption,  the  consumption 
of  spirits  and  beer  is  per  head  of  population  as 
follows : — 

England,   Spirits...  £\     i     6         Beer     ...  £2  12     2 
Scotland,        „      ...       218  ,,       ...       o  15     3 

Ireland,          „      ...       155  »       •••       i   12     8 

In  England  the  outlay  is  about  two-and-a-half 
times  greater  on  beer  than  on  spirits.  Ireland 
spends  about  one-and-a-quarter  more  on  beer 
than  on  spirits.  Scotland  spends  nearly  three 
times  as  much  on  spirits  as  on  beer.  Conse- 
quently, Ireland  compares  well  with  the  other 
divisions  of  the  United  Kingdom,  and  the  com- 
munity are  beer-drinkers  rather  than  spirit- 
consumers. 

The  facts  as  to  the  drink  traffic  in  Ireland 
have  been  stated  with  considerable  force  by 
Sir  Horace  Plunkett,  who  has  had  exceptional 
opportunities  of  studying  the  question  on  the 
spot  in  all  its  varied  aspects.  In  his  book, 
"  Ireland  in  the  New  Century,"  he  makes  the 
following  references,  which  deserve  the  widest 
publicity,  and  it  may  be  hoped  will  serve  to 
correct  the  popular  picture  of  the  traditional 
"  Paddy,"  who  in  the  past  has  figured  with 
such  deplorable  frequency  on  the  stage:  — 

Now  the  drink  habit  in  Ireland  differs  from  that  of  the  other 
parts  of  the  United  Kingdom.  The  Irishman  is,  in  my  belief, 
physiologically  less  subject  to  the  craving  for  alcohol  than  the 
Englishman — a  fact  which  is  partially  attributable,  I  should 


ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.  IJ 

say,  to  the  less  animal  dietary  to  which  he  is  accustomed.  By 
far  the  greater  proportion  of  the  drinking  which  retards  our 
progress  is  of  a  festive  character.  It  takes  place  at  fairs  and 
markets,  sometimes,  even  yet,  at  "wakes" — those  ghastly 
parodies  on  the  blessed  consolation  of  religion  in  bereavement. 
It  is  largely  due  to  the  almost  universal  sale  of  liquor  in  the 
country  shops  "for  consumption  on  the  premises,"  an  evil 
the  demoralising  effects  of  which  are  an  hundredfold  greater 
than  those  of  the  " grocers'  licenses"  which  Temperance 
reformers  so  strenuously  denounce.  It  is  an  evil  for  the 
existence  of  which  nothing  can  be  said ;  but  it  has  somehow 
escaped  the  effective  censure  of  the  Church. 

The  truth  is  that  Ireland  spends  less  per  head 
on  drink  than  England  or  Scotland ;  the  Irish 
are  no  more  weak-willed — no  more  lacking  in 
self-restraint — than  are  their  neighbours.  I  am 
not  arguing  against  Temperance  reform,  far  from 
it;  and  I  believe  that  better  food,  healthier 
surroundings,  more  prosperous  conditions  will 
tend  in  that  most  desirable  direction,  for  the 
depression  into  which  the  country  has  sunk 
contributes  in  no  small  measure  to  the  present 
rate  of  consumption  of  alcohol. 

Life  in  Ireland  is  led  under  circumstances  of 
great  depression.  For  over  sixty  years  the  Irish 
population  has  been  wasting  away.  There  has 
been,  and  is  still,  a  double  leakage  which  none  of 
the  measures  hitherto  elaborated  have  effectively 
checked.  The  sun,  as  it  has  set  day  after  day 
in  a  path  of  gold  over  the  broad  Atlantic,  has 
been  for  sixty  years  a  bridge  of  hope  to  all  those 
who,  physically  and  mentally,  represent  the  best 


i8 


THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 


of  the  population.  Year  by  year,  an  unending 
stream  of  emigrant  ships  has  been  bearing  away 
from  Ireland  to  the  American  continent  the 
finest  brain  and  muscle  of  the  country.  These 
people  in  their  millions  have  looked  to  an  alien 
land  for  better  conditions  of  life.  Down  to 
the  year  1845  the  population  of  Ireland  was 
steadily  growing — possibly  at  too  high  a  rate 
considering  the  country's  resources — and  the 
prosperity  of  the  nation  generally  was  increasing. 
In  that  year  the  inhabitants  numbered  8,296,061. 
How  serious  the  drain  of  emigration  has  been 
in  subsequent  years  may  be  seen  from  the 
following  figures,  showing  the  population  of 
the  different  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom  at 
various  periods  : — 


Date 
of 
Enumera- 
tion. 

ENGLAND  &  WALES. 

SCOTLAND. 

IRELAND. 

Population. 

Pop. 
per 
sq.  mile. 

Pop. 
Population.  '•        per 
sq.  mile. 

Population. 

Pop. 
per 
sq.  mile. 

1801 

iSn 

1821 

$1 

1851 

I.V.I 

1871 

1881 
1891 
1901 

8,892,536 
10,164,256 
12,000,236 
13,896,797 
15,914,148 
17,927,609 
20,066,224 
22,712,266 

25,974,439 
29,002,525 
32,526,075 

»53 

175 

206 
239 
273 
308 

344 
390 
446 
498 
558 

1,608,420 
1,805,864 
2,091,521 
2,364,386 
2,620,184 
2,888,742 
3,062,294 
3,360,018 

3,735-573 
4,025,647 
4,472,103 

54 
60 
70 
79 
88 
97 

IOO 

"3 
"5 
135 
150 

5-395,456 
5-937,856 
6,801,827 
7,767,401 
8,175,124 

6,552,385 
5,798,564 
5,412,377 
5,174,836 
4,704,750 
4,458,775 

1  66 
186 
209 

239 
251 

2OI 
I78 
I67 

159 

144 

»37 

In    1841,   Ireland   had   over   three   times   as 
many  inhabitants  as  Scotland  could  boast ;  half 


ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL    CONDITIONS.  IQ 

as  many  as  England  and  Wales  claimed.  At 
that  time  nearly  one-third  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  the  United  Kingdom  lived  in  Ireland  (see 
Appendix  III).  In  sixty  years  the  population  of 
Ireland  has  fallen  by  nearly  4,000,000  (for  in  1903 
the  number  was  estimated  to  be  4,391,565) — 
a  record  of  national  wastage  which  is  unparalleled 
in  the  history  of  the  world. 

A  most  lamentable  fact  in  the  outward  flow 
of  the  population  is  that  nearly  all  the  emigrants 
have  been  in  the  prime  of  life,  or  approaching 
to  it.  According  to  the  last  census,  nearly 
91  per  cent,  of  the  430,993  persons  who  left 
the  country  during  the  previous  ten  years 
were  over  10  and  under  45  years,  and  just 
under  4  per  cent,  of  the  remainder  had  not 
celebrated  their  forty-sixth  birthday.  In  other 
words,  practically  the  whole  of  the  four  million 
emigrants  who  have  sailed  from  Ireland  in  the 
past  sixty  years  or  so  have  been  in  the  full 
vigour  of  life,  and  those  who  have  remained 
have,  for  the  most  part,  been  the  less  physically 
fit,  the  most  mentally  deficient,  and  those  who 
correspond  to  the  lowest  industrial  standard. 

The  evil  results  of  this  artificial,  extravagant, 
and  unnecessary  flow  of  emigration  are  not  by 
any  means  confined  to  Ireland.  The  actual 
decline  of  population  is  a  direct  loss  to  the 
United  Kingdom,  and  the  direction  in  which  the 
flood  of  emigration  sets  is  an  indirect  loss  to 


2O  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

Great  Britain,  and  a  direct  loss  to  the  Empire. 
A  great  proportion  of  British  emigrants  settle 
within  the  Empire.  The  bulk  of  those  who  sail 
from  Irish  ports  find  a  new  home  in  the  United 
States.  All  these  many  millions  are  a  direct 
loss  to  Canada  with  her  illimitable  supply  of 
cultivable  land ;  and  are  an  indirect  but  very 
substantial  loss  to  Great  Britain,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  they  go  to  swell  a  population  buying 
from  us  at  the  rate  of  53.  per  head,  instead  of 
adding  to  a  population  buying  from  us  at  the 
rate  of  £i  i8s.  8d.  per  head. 

And  the  effects  of  sentiment  must  not  be 
despised.  The  majority  of  Irish  emigrants  desert 
their  country  with  hearts  hardened  against  those 
whom  they  hold  to  be  responsible  for  the  diseases 
which  afflict  it,  and  go  out  into  the  world  dis- 
seminating the  story  of  Irish  grievances  and 
English  injustice.  The  flow  of  emigrants  from 
Ireland  is  consequently  proving  not  only  a  fatal 
drain  upon  the  land  which  gave  them  birth,  and 
which  they  still  continue  to  regard  with  natural 
affection,  but  it  involves  also  a  dead  loss  to 
British  manufactures  and  those  employed  by 
them ;  and,  as  a  large  proportion  of  the  exiles 
go  out  into  other  countries  with  their  hearts 
rebellious  against  British  rule  and  British  institu- 
tions, it  cannot  fail  to  be  a  source  of  anxiety  to 
all  those  who  value  good  relations  with  the  great 
Republic  across  the  sea,  who  desire  to  draw 


ECONOMIC    AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.  21 

closer  the  bonds  uniting  the  component  parts  of 
our  Empire,  and  who  attach  inestimable  value 
to  the  homogeneity  of  the  English-speaking  race. 
Owing  to  the  drain  of  population  outwards  of 
men  and  women  in  the  prime  of  life,  Ireland 
has  become  the  country  of  old  men  and  women. 
In  this  respect  its  position  in  the  British  Empire 
is  unique.  Let  readers  ponder  on  the  fact  that 
Ireland  has  a  larger  proportion  of  aged  than  any 
other  country  in  the  King's  dominions,  because 
the  young  and  energetic  have  fled  to  other  lands 
in  search  of  happiness  and  fortune.  In  Ireland, 
out  of  every  1,000  of  the  population,  there  are 
sixty-four  men  and  sixty-three  women  of  sixty- 
five  years  of  age  or  upwards  ;  while  in  England 
and  Wales  the  figures  are  forty-two  and  fifty-one 
respectively ;  and  in  Scotland,  forty-one  and 
fifty-six.  On  this  question  the  compilers  of  the 
"  Census  of  the  British  Empire  "  state  : 

The  effect  of  migration  on  the  age-constitution  of  a  popu- 
lation is  considerable.  For  example,  the  low  proportion  of 
children  and  the  high  proportion  of  old  people  enumerated  in 
Ireland  are  mainly  accounted  for  by  excessive  emigration. 

And  there  is  another  terrible  leakage  from 
which  Ireland  is  suffering,  namely,  lunacy.  The 
figures  of  the  Census  of  1901  tell  an  amazing 
story  of  the  mental  gloom  which  year  by  year 
has  been  settling  down  upon  those  who  have 
remained  in  the  old  country.  Of  every  10,000 
persons  in  Ireland,  52*6  are  registered  as  lunatics 


22  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

or  idiots.  Considered  by  provinces,  the  pro- 
portion is  lowest  in  industrial  Ulster,  as  might 
be  expected,  there  being  a  difference  of  over  20 
per  10,000  between  that  province  and  Munster. 
In  Waterford,  the  proportion  is  nearly  96  per 
10,000 ;  in  Meath  it  is  78 ;  in  Clare,  73  ;  in 
Kilkenny,  nearly  71  ;  in  King's  County,  69 ;  in 
Wexford,Tipperary,  and  Carlow,  68 ;  and  inWest- 
meath  and  Limerick,  66.  In  County  Antrim, 
including  Belfast  City,  the  rate  falls  to  29*6  ;  and 
in  County  Dublin,  to  24*6. 

The  mental  ravages  among  the  Irish  people 
are  set  forth  with  shocking  lucidity  in  the  last 
Census  Report,  in  which  the  position  is  stated 
in  another  form  : — 

The  total  number  of  lunatics  and  idiots  returned  in  1851 
was  equal  to  a  ratio  of  i  in  657  of  the  population  ;  in  1861,  to 
i  in  411 ;  in  1871,  to  i  in  328  ;  in  1881,  to  i  in  281  ;  in  1891, 
to  i  in  222;  and  on  the  present  occasion,  to  i  in  178,  the 
ratio  in  the  province  of  Leinster  being  i  in  187  ;  in  Munster, 
i  in  152 ;  in  Ulster,  i  in  226  ;  and  in  Connaught,  i  in  184. 

The  following  counties  had  the  lowest  ratios  : — Antrim 
County  and  Belfast  City,  i  in  336  ;  Dublin  County  and  City, 
i  in  289  ;  Londonderry  County  and  City,  i  in  233  ;  Down,  i 
in  216;  Wicklow,  i  in  209;  Mayo,  i  in  208;  Fermanagh,  i 
in  205 ;  and  Donegal,  i  in  200. 

These  figures,  varying  as  they  do  between 
Ulster  and  Munster,  and  between  town  and 
country,  are  highly  significant  of  the  mental 
condition  of  the  people  of  Ireland.  Where 
industry  exists  and  the  population  has  more  or 
less  ample  field  for  activity,  lunacy  is  lowest ; 


ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.  23 

in  districts  where  the  outlook  is  shut  in  and  life 
holds  out  no  bright  future,  there  the  minds  of 
the  people  become  atrophied  and  die.  Every 
doctor  agrees  that  the  mind  loses  its  balance 
and  the  brain  becomes  soft  and  useless  more  by 
reason  of  disuse  than  overuse.  The  agricultural 
labourer,  leading  a  monotonous  life  on  a  small 
wage,  and  poorly  fed  into  the  bargain,  is  the  pro- 
bable lunatic  or  idiot  of  to-morrow,  and  not  the 
judge  or  professional  man  who  day  by  day  uses 
his  brain  almost  to  the  point  when  physical 
endurance  breaks  down.  The  dulness  of  life  in 
the  country  districts  of  England  has  been  largely 
responsible  for  the  fact  that  lunacy  in  England 
has  been  on  the  increase.  In  ten  years  the 
ratio  has  grown  by  over  13  per  cent.;  but  even 
so,  the  rate  for  the  whole  of  England  and  Wales 
is  still  only  3471,  or  nearly  11-5  less  than  the 
average  of  the  whole  of  Ireland,  while  it  is  about 
one-third  that  of  Waterford,  and  half,  or  less, 
than  the  rate  in  Clare,  Kilkenny,  King's  County, 
Carlow,  Wexford,  Tipperary,  and  other  Irish 
counties.  In  these  terrible  figures  relating  to 
the  outflow  of  population  to  America  and  the 
inflow  of  population  to  the  lunatic  and  idiot 
asylums,  we  have  an  indication  of  the  social 
and  mental  condition  of  Ireland  which  it  is 
impossible  to  exaggerate. 

The  Census  Commissioners  in  their  Report 
make   no   attempt  to  explain  away  the   tragic 


24         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

significance  of  these  figures  ;  and  the  Inspectors 
of  Lunacy  in  their  Report  for  1905  add  that 
if  to  the  number  of  the  insane  (23,365)  under 
care  on  the  3ist  December,  1905,  be  added 
the  number  of  idiots  and  lunatics  at  large, 
according  to  the  last  census,  the  total  27,233 
represents  620  per  hundred  thousand  of  the 
population.  The  Inspectors  have  instituted  a 
special  inquiry  with  reference  to  the  increase  in 
the  number  of  registered  insane,  and  their  figures 
reveal  that  between  1880  and  1904,  during  the 
whole  of  which  period  the  law  was  carefully 
administered,  there  was  an  increase  of  1,014  in 
the  total  number :  while  the  inmates  of  District 
Asylums  increased  by  9,948,  and  there  was  a 
growth  in  the  number  of  patients  in  the  Private 
Asylums  and  Institutions  amounting  to  172,  the 
criminal  lunatics,  on  the  other  hand,  decreased  by 
1 8,  and  the  insane  paupers  in  workhouses  by 
193.  The  Commissioners,  in  their  Report  for 
the  year  1904,  summed  up  the  situation  in  the 
following  words  : — 

The  admissions  to  District  Asylums  in  1881  numbered 
2,502;  in  1904  they  had  increased  to  3,910.  Similarly,  in 
Private  Asylums  the  numbers  for  1881  were  145  ;  and  for  1904 
they  had  increased  to  225.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  pro- 
portional increase  in  the  two  classes  of  Institutions  during  that 
time  was  practically  the  same,  being  56  per  cent,  in  the  case  of 
the  District  Asylums,  and  55  per  cent,  in  the  case  of  Private 
Asylums.  During  the  same  period,  the  numbers  actually 
resident  in  the  District  Asylums  have  increased  by  almost  115 
per  cent.;  while  in  the  Private  Asylums  and  Institutions  they 
have  increased  by  less  than  28  per  cent. 


ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS. 


In  a  report  dated  July  3ist,  1906,  the 
Inspectors  of  Lunatics  conveyed  to  the  Lord 
Lieutenant  their  views  on  the  growth  in  the 
number  of  insane.  They  gave  a  tabulated 
statement  showing  for  England  and  Wales, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  the  total  number  of 
insane,  and  the  ratio  of  the  insane  per  10,000 
of  the  population  at  each  Census  since  1871 : — 


RATIO  of  the  INSANE 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  INSANE.          per  10,000  of  the 
POPULATION. 


England 
and 
Wales. 

Scotland. 

Ireland. 

Eng- 
land 
and 
Wales. 

Scot- 
land. 

Ireland. 

1871 

69,019 

H.4'3 

16,505 

30-4 

34'0 

30-5 

1881 

84,503 

14,397 

18,413 

32-5 

38-5 

35'6 

1891 

97,383 

15,462 

21,188 

33-6 

38-4 

45'0 

1901 

132,654 

20,291 

25,050 

40-8 

45'4 

56-2 

In  1851  the  proportion  in  Ireland  of  registered 
insane  was  as  low  as  15*2,  so  that  in  fifty  years 
the  proportion  has  gone  up  by  41*0  per  10,000 
of  the  population.  In  spite  of  these  facts,  and 
by  arguments  which  seem  to  rest  on  quite 
insufficient  foundation,  and  to  be  designed 
rather  to  make  fact  square  with  theory,  the  two 
Inspectors,  while  admitting  that  no  positive 
information  supports  their  view,  claim  : — 

Without  venturing  to  affirm  that  there  has  been  no  increase 
of  occurring  insanity  notwithstanding  the  great  numerical 
increase,  so  far  as  the  information  at  our  disposal  enables 


26  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

us  to  form  an  opinion,  we  can  only  conclude  that  the  very 
great  increase  which  has  taken  place  in  the  ratio  of  insanity  to 
the  population,  as  shown  both  by  the  Census  returns  and  by 
the  statistics  of  public  institutions,  is  largely  due  to  the 
accumulation  which  is  taking  place  in  the  public  asylums ; 
partly  to  the  reduction  of  the  population  by  emigration  ;  and 
partly  to  the  return  of  emigrants  suffering  from  mental  break- 
down, who  have  either  come  back  voluntarily,  or  have  been 
repatriated  by  the  United  States  Government  in  consequence 
of  their  not  having  become  naturalized  American  citizens. 
The  emigration  of  the  strong  and  healthy  members  of  the 
community,  amongst  whom,  if  they  had  remained  at  home, 
the  ratio  of  insanity  would  have  been  very  small,  not  alone 
increases  the,  ratio  of  the  insane  who  are  left  behind,  to  the 
general  population,  but  also  lowers  the  general  standard  of 
mental  and  bodily  health,  by  eliminating  many  of  the  members 
of  the  community  who  are  best  fitted  to  survive  and  propagate 
the  race. 

The  increase  in  numbers  has  taken  place  mainly  amongst  the 
insane  supported  out  of  public  rates — the  increase  amongst  the 
classes  who  are  able  to  pay,  ot  whose  relatives  are  able  to  pay, 
for  their  maintenance  in  private  institutions,  being  small  in 
comparison. 

An  ordinary  observer  acquainted  with  Ireland 
and  the  conditions  of  life  there  would  expect 
that  the  growth  in  insanity  would  have  been 
greatest  among  the  poor — namely,  among  those 
living  in  the  centres  of  greatest  depression  and 
privation — and  would  have  accepted  the  fact  as 
a  clear  indication  of  the  low  condition  into  which 
the  Irish  people  have  sunk,  for  the  majority  of 
the  people  in  Ireland  are  undoubtedly  "pinched." 
It  is  well  to  know  that  the  increase  has  not  been 
great  among  those  comfortably  off,  and  the  real 


ECONOMIC    AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.  2/ 

lesson  seems  to  be  that  the  number  who  are 
free  from  biting  care  and  depression  must  be 
increased  by  raising  the  general  level  of  pros- 
perity throughout  the  nation. 

For  half  a  century  and  more  the  best  equipped, 
mentally  and  physically,  of  the  population  have 
been  leaving  Ireland.  The  survival  of  the 
unfittest  has  been  the  law,  and  the  inevitable 
result — deterioration  of  the  race  —  statistics 
abundantly  support.  On  the  first  point,  the 
Commissioners  of  National  Education  in  Ireland 
have  claimed  with  some  pride  that  there  has 
been  a  reduction  in  the  percentage  of  illiterates 
from  47  per  cent,  in  1851  to  14  per  cent,  in 
1901  ;  and  they  add  : — "  This  change  for  the 
better  is  remarkable  when  it  is  remembered 
that  it  was  the  younger  and  better  educated  who 
emigrated  to  the  number  of  two  millions  during 
this  period,1  while  the  majority  of  the  illiterates 
were  persons  who  were  too  old  to  leave  their 
homes."  So  much  for  the  official  view  of  the 
result  of  emigration  on  the  mental  condition  of 
the  Irish  people. 

As  to  the  effect  upon  their  physical  condition, 
it  is  surely  a  significant  social  fact  that  the  Irish 
birth-rate  should  be  almost  the  smallest  in  the 
world.  The  Irish  rate  has  sunk  to  23*4  per 

1  According  to  the  Census  Report  of  1901,  3,846,393 
persons — 2,006,421  males  and  1,839,972  females — emigrated 
in  this  period  of  fifty  years. 


28         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

1,000  living.     This   rate  compares   with    other 
countries  thus : — 

England  and  Wales  ...  ...  31' 7 

Scotland  ...  ...  ...  31*7 

Hungary  ...  ...  ...  42-3 

Roumania  ...  ...  ...  40*1 

Austria  ...  ...  ...  37*7 

Prussia  ...  ...  ...  37-3 

Italy  ...  ...  ...  36-2 

Denmark  ...  ...  ...  31-2 

Norway  ...  ...  ...  30*6 

Belgium  ...  ...  ...  29-8 

Switzerland  ...  ...  ...  28-6 

France  ...  ...  ...  23-3 

Ireland  ...  ...  ...  23-4 

It  is  true  that  the  marriage-rate  of  Ireland  is 
low ;  but  the  birth-rate  is  still  disproportionately 
small,  as  the  following  extract  from  the  Census 
Report  shows  : — 

The  general  results  of  the  inquiry  as  regards  the  conjugal 
condition  of  the  people  may  be  summarized  by  saying  that : — 
The  decrease  in  the  proportion  of  married  persons  noted  in 
1891,  as  compared  with  1881,  still  continues ;  that  the  relative 
number  of  married  persons  of  the  reproductive  ages  is  under 
the  low  proportion  for  1891,  which  in  its  turn  was  lower  than 
in  1 88 1 ;  that  in  strict  accord  with  the  results  shown  in  1861, 
1871,  1 88 1,  and  1891,  the  highest  proportion  of  married 
persons  is  to  be  found  in  the  province  of  Connaught ;  and  that, 
estimated  by  the  number  of  married  women  of  the  child- 
bearing  ages,  the  natural  increase  in  population  in  Ireland  is 
at  present  very  small. 

The  movement  of  the  people  of  Ireland  out- 
wards has  led  to  the  depopulation,  roughly 
speaking,  of  all  the  provinces  except  Ulster, 


ECONOMIC    AND    SOCIAL  CONDITIONS.  2Q 

though  County  Dublin  is  still  well  filled ;  in 
fact,  in  Dublin  and  Belfast  and  some  of  the 
Ulster  towns,  there  is  a  congestion  of  popula- 
tion ;  while  in  Sligo,  Leitrim,  Roscommon, 
Longford,  and  Limerick,  the  depopulation  has 
been  less  marked  than  in  other  counties.  The 
result  of  this  movement  has  been  that  in  a  large 
part  of  Ireland  the  population  consists  of  less 
than  100  per  acre  ;  while,  to  point  the  other 
extreme,  in  the  towns  there  are  over  79,000 
tenements  of  one  room,  occupied  as  follows; — 

By  i  person          ...  ...     20,994 

2  persons        ...  ...     20,119 

3  , 12.867 

4  ...  ...       8,932 


6,250 
4,400 
2,701 


786 
364 
136 


12  or  more  persons         ...  68 

These  facts  and  figures  should  convince  the 
most  superficial  observer  of  the  course  of  events 
in  Ireland  that  the  social  condition  of  the  people 
in  the  towns  as  in  the  country  is  lamentably 
unsound. 

There  is  unfortunately  little  indication  of  a 
permanent  turn  of  the  tide  of  emigration.  The 
best  of  the  population  is  still  anxious  to  leave. 
There  is  good  stock  left:  no  finer  people  exist 


3O         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

than  those  inhabiting  many  of  the  rural  districts 
in  Ireland ;  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the 
cream  of  the  peasant  population  which  remains 
in  Ireland  remains,  not  because  the  people 
have  no  desire  to  leave,  but  because  the  cost 
of  removal  is,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
beyond  their  means.  Many  false  deductions 
have  been  placed  upon  the  slight  decrease  in 
emigration  which  occurred  in  some  years  prior 
to  1904. 

Lunacy  is  not  the  only  disease  increasing  to 
an  alarming  extent.  The  population  in  the 
larger  towns,  containing  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  the  physically  and  mentally  deficient, 
is  overcrowded  to  a  horrible  extent,  and  the 
labourers  in  rural  districts  are  badly  housed. 
The  Irish  people  are  a  prey  to  tuberculosis, 
owing,  at  least  in  some  measure,  to  the  insani- 
tary conditions  which  prevail,  and  to  insufficient 
or  improper  food.  In  1905,  11,882  persons  died 
from  tuberculosis  in  Ireland.  It  now  equals  a 
rate  of  2*7  per  1,000.  Again,  though  the  causes 
are  less  obvious,  the  ravages  from  cancer  are 
significant.  This  disease  claimed  more  victims 
in  1905  (3,291)  than  ever  before — cancer  is 
spreading.  Again,  take  the  figures  of  pauper- 
ism ;  one  out  of  every  100  persons  is  an  inmate 
of  a  work-house,  and  one  out  of  every  44, 
including  those  receiving  outdoor  relief,  keeps 
body  and  soul  together  by  rate  aid ;  and  every- 


ECONOMIC    AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.  31 

one  who  knows  him  will  admit  that  the  Irish 
labourer,  who  can,  and  does,  live  with  wife  and 
family  on  an  average  income  of  IDS.  a  week, 
including  allowances  in  kind,  is  in  no  hurry  to 
go  on  the  rates  so  long  as  he  and  his  can  exist 
in  independence. 

It  may  be  argued  that  the  condition  of  Ireland 
is  not  singular  as  regards  pauperism,  at  any 
rate,  which  is  an  immense  burden  in  England 
also.  That  is  true,  but  only  to  a  certain  extent.1 
The  conditions  of  the  two  countries  are  very 
different.  England  is  an  industrial  nation  sub- 
ject to  great  fluctuations  in  the  demand  for 
labour;  while  Ireland,  being  agricultural,  is 
essentially  a  country  in  which  the  demand 
should  be  more  or  less  fixed.  Moreover,  in 
Ireland,  the  poorest  classes  manage  to  eke  out 
an  existence  on  an  income  which  is  regarded  by 
Englishmen  as  insufficient  to  support  life.  The 
Englishman  goes  into  the  poorhouse,  or  accepts 
relief,  more  readily  than  does  the  agricultural 
labourer  of  the  adjacent  island. 

Nearly  900,000  persons  in  Ireland  are  engaged 

1  Between  1863  and  1903  the  percentage  of  the  "daily 
average "  number  of  paupers  in  Ireland  to  1,000  of  the 
population  rose  from  1-12  to  2-2,  while  in  England  and  Wales 
the  percentage  of  the  "  mean  numbers"  fell  from  5-3  to  2'i2 
per  1,000.  Roughly,  these  figures  are  on  a  parallel  basis  of 
comparison.  In  no  year  between  1863  and  1873  in  England 
did  the  figure  fall  below  4  per  cent.,  while  in  Ireland  it  never 
exceeded  1*5. 


32  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

in  agriculture.  Since  the  total  population  is 
not  quite  4,400,000,  and  2,500,000  are  returned 
as  "  not  producing,"  it  will  be  understood  how 
large  a  proportion  comes  under  the  head  of 
agriculture.  Probably  in  no  other  part  of  the 
British  Empire  can  be  found  a  body  of  men  who 
are  paid  at  as  low  a  rate  as  the  agricultural 
labourer  in  Ireland.  Mr.  Wilson  Fox,  in  his 
second  Report  on  the  earnings  of  agricultural 
labourers,  issued  by  the  Labour  Department  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  gives  some  statistics  with 
reference  to  the  earnings,  including  the  value  of 
all  allowances  in  kind,  of  able-bodied  male  adults 
among  the  agricultural  classes  in  the  different 
parts  of  the  United  Kingdom.  He  concludes  that 
in  England,  a  labourer  obtains  i8s.  3d.  a  week ; 
in  Wales,  173.  3d. ;  in  Scotland,  igs.  3d. ;  and  in 
Ireland,  los.  nd.  These  are  the  averages;  but 
those  for  Irish  counties  were  uniformly  lower 
than  in  Great  Britain,  and  in  no  county  in  Eng- 
land is  a  less  sum  than  143.  6d.  received.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  Ireland,  the  average  earnings 
in  seven  counties  are  less  than  los.  a  week, 
Mayo  being  lowest  with  8s.  gd.,  while  in  Sligo 
the  average  is  8s.  nd.,  and  in  Roscommon 
gs.  id.  The  fact  that  Irish  agricultural 
labourers  —  many  of  them  with  wives  and 
families  to  support — can  keep  body  and  soul 
together  on  such  a  small  income  without 
assistance,  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  the  time; 


ECONOMIC    AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.  33 

were  it  not  for  this,  the  expenditure  on  Poor  Law 
Relief  would  be  higher  than  it  is.  The  Irishman 
may,  it  is  true,  be  able  to  add  a  little  to  the 
sum-total  of  the  means  of  existence  in  various 
ways,  but  his  lot  at  the  best  is  a  desperately 
poor  one  ;  and  it  is  not  confined  to  the  labour- 
ing class  properly  so  called.  There  is  another 
class,  principally  in  the  West,  consisting  of  small 
farmers,  who  form,  to  a  great  extent,  the  migra- 
tory labourers  who  go  to  work  on  farms  in  certain 
counties  in  England  and  Scotland  at  harvest- 
time.  In  lieu  of  any  better  means  of  employ- 
ment, they  are  glad  to  cross  the  Channel  in 
order  to  get  a  wage  varying  from  153.  3d.  to 
173.  3d.  a  week.  Let  any  working  man  in  Eng- 
land consider  this  fact:  these  people  are  so 
poor  that  they  are  glad  to  leave  their  homes, 
incur  considerable  expense  in  travelling,  and 
surfer  all  the  inconveniences  of  crossing  the 
Channel — for  the  chance  of  earning  for  a  short 
time  a  wage  of  from  153  3d.  to  173.  3d.  a  week. 

But  I  need  not  pursue  this  theme.  The  broad 
fact  is  that  the  best  that  is  in  Ireland  is  flowing 
outward ;  the  worst  is  drifting  in  increasing 
proportion  to  the  lunatic  asylums ;  and  the 
balance  remains  in  Ireland  of  necessity  rather 
than  of  choice.  It  is  in  the  face  of  these 
deplorable  facts  that  I  appeal  to  moderate  men 
in  Ireland  to  put  aside  their  differences,  and  to 
do  something  for  the  salvation  of  their  country ; 


34  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

to  endeavour  at  any  rate  to  enlighten  the 
English  people  and  convince  them  that,  unless 
remedial  measures  are  undertaken,  Ireland 
must  still  continue  her  downward  career,  and 
become  an  increasing,  and  eventually  an 
intolerable,  because  an  unprofitable,  burden 
upon  them.  The  outlook  is  not  without  hope. 

The  Land  Act  of  1903  is  solving  one  of  the 
historical  problems  which  Ireland  has  always 
presented  to  the  world.  The  removal  of  one 
great  cause  of  friction  between  classes  will 
inevitably  tend  towards  tolerance  and  mutual 
understanding.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  landlords  selling  their  estates  will  con- 
tinue to  reside  in  the  country,  and  that,  with 
the  disappearance  of  the  old  root-cause  of 
disagreement,  they  will  interest  themselves  more 
freely  and  effectively  than  has  hitherto  been  the 
case  in  local  affairs,  in  the  encouragement  of 
education,  and  the  development  of  the  resources 
of  the  country.  Even  to-day,  there  is  prac- 
tically little  difference  of  opinion  as  to  facts — as 
to  the  condition  of  the  country  and  the  diseases 
which  afflict  it.  Except  in  the  eyes  of  an 
impossible  few,  the  Dublin  Castle  system  of 
government,  with  the  ramification  of  uncon- 
trolled, or  only  partly  controlled,  departments, 
stands  condemned ;  and  no  one  who  is  con- 
versant with  Ireland  can  fail  to  admit  that  the 
economic  and  social  condition  of  the  country  is 
one  that  gives  cause  for  anxiety  and  alarm. 


ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.  35 

Another  hopeful  feature  in  the  outlook  lies  in 
the  comparative  peace  which  has  settled  over 
the  whole  country  since  Mr.  Wyndham's  Land 
Act  was  passed.  Irishmen  are  emotional  and 
sentimental,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  give  forceful 
expression  to  the  feeling  of  the  moment,  often 
occasioned  by  some  single  act  which  they  regard 
as  unjust.  They  have  behind  them  a  gloomy 
history ;  they  have  been  reared  amid  the  re- 
minders of  past  persecution,  and  in  the  recol- 
lection of  the  days  when  the  hand  of  England 
pressed  heavily  upon  them,  throttling  their 
industries  and  putting  despair  into  the  hearts  of 
the  people  ;  but,  in  spite  of  all  this,  the  better 
feeling  prevailing  is  very  marked. 

It  is  the  habit  of  the  Unionist  Press  generally, 
and  of  some  Unionist  speakers,  to  paint  in 
lurid  colours  a  grossly  distorted  picture  of  the 
criminal  condition  of  Ireland.  Any  outrage  of 
an  agrarian  character,  any  speeches  made  by 
irresponsible  persons  irritated  by  local  incidents, 
are  exaggerated  and  circulated  far  and  wide, 
with  the  intention,  apparently,  to  give  English- 
men the  idea  that  Ireland  is  in  a  state  of 
extreme  unrest,  seething  with  crime.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  latest  criminal  statistics  to  justify 
them.  Crime  of  all  kinds  is  diminishing  in 
Ireland,  prisons  are  being  shut,  and  Judges 
presented  with  white  gloves  ;  while  in  Scotland, 
in  1904,  indictable  offences  numbered  20,000,  in 


36         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

Ireland,  with  practically  the  same  population, 
the  number  was  only  18,000.  How  long  this 
happy  condition  may  last  it  is  impossible  to 
say.  Some  recurrence  of  agitation  may  occur 
if  the  "  fight-at-any-price "  party  are  suffered 
to  prevail,  and  if  no  steps  are  taken  to  deal  with 
a  critical  condition  of  affairs  which,  as  Lord 
Lansdowne  admitted  in  the  House  of  Lords 
on  February  i/th,  1905,  "  calls  for  active 
measures  of  reform."  Some  friction  may  be 
looked  for  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  working 
of  so  great  a  revolution  as  that  initiated  by  the 
Land  Act  of  1903.  Some  recrudescence  of 
agrarian  crime  may,  in  those  circumstances, 
possibly  take  place.  I  trust  not,  and  I  believe 
not ;  I  think  the  patience,  prudence,  and  wisdom 
of  the  people  will  prevail. 

Though  legislation  can  do  much  to  ameliorate 
the  condition  of  the  people  in  Ireland,  especially 
those  in  the  South  and  West,  who  feel  most 
acutely  the  pressure  of  poverty,  it  cannot  do 
everything,  it  cannot  remove  the  cause.  Money 
is  required,  and  the  need  of  money  is  one  of  the 
arguments  for  legislative  and  administrative 
reform.  By  reform  of  the  present  system  of 
government,  funds  can  be  made  available  for  the 
development  of  the  latent  resources  of  the 
country,  which  are  by  no  means  despicable, 
without  trenching  upon  the  cash  or  the  credit  of 
the  United  Kingdom. 


ECONOMIC    AND    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.  37 

Money  is  needed  for  the  development  of  the 
country,  but  money  alone  will  not  regenerate 
Ireland.  The  people  are  neither  lazy  nor  devoid 
of  intelligence.  They  do  good  work  in  all 
quarters  of  the  globe.  They  go  out  into  the 
world  and  become  leaders  of  men.  There  is  no 
inherent  defect  in  the  race.  What  is  lacking  to 
them  at  home  ?  Why  is  it  that  in  every  depart- 
ment of  national  existence  in  the  Old  Country 
they  appear  stifled,  fettered,  unable  to  go  ahead  ? 
They  need  education.  The  light  of  modern 
science  and  modern  thought  must  be  thrown 
upon  all  Ireland's  cramped  activities.  Instruc- 
tion in  industrial  and  agricultural  life  is  required, 
and  the  creation  of  a  hopeful  determination  to 
make  the  most  of  such  instruction.  The  best- 
laid  plans  for  encouraging  agriculture  by  the 
application  of  modern  methods,  for  resuscitating 
other  industries,  and  for  utilising  the  natural 
resources  of  the  country,  for,  in  short,  develop- 
ing industries  of  all  kinds,  must  be  preceded  by 
proper  facilities  which  Ireland  certainly  does 
not  now  possess,  for  marketing  the  products  of 
those  industries ;  and  even  then  they  will  meet 
with  but  a  partial  measure  of  success  unless 
the  healthy  stimulus  of  responsibility,  and  of  an 
active  participation  in  the  management  of  their 
own  affairs,  is  imparted  to  the  people.  The 
people  require  education,  and  education  in  the 
literal  sense ;  they  must  be  drawn  out  of  their 


38         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

despondency.  They  want  the  teaching  that 
responsibility  alone  can  give.  One  million 
saved  by  the  efforts  of  the  people,  and 
expended  according  to  the  wishes  of  the  people, 
would  do  more  than  treble  the  sum  granted  by 
Parliament  and  administered  by  independent 
departments.  The  self-respect  begot  by  power, 
the  self-control  derived  from  duty,  the  con- 
fidence in  self  following  upon  successful  effort, 
the  hope  springing  from  seeing  the  good  results 
of  a  wise  conduct  of  affairs — all  this  is  wanting, 
and  must  be  given  to  the  people.  They  must 
be  shaken  out  of  apathy,  lifted  out  of  despair  ; 
and,  though  much  may  be  done  in  minor 
directions,  the  real  motive-power  can  only  be 
found  in  self-government — in  an  active  interest 
in  the  management  of  their  own  affairs. 


PAST   TRADE    RELATIONS   WITH    ENGLAND.      39 


CHAPTER  II. 

PAST   TRADE    RELATIONS    WITH    ENGLAND. 

THE  story  of  Irish  industry  is  a  gloomy  chapter 
in  the  world's  history ;  and  whoever  would  under- 
stand the  condition  of  the  country  to-day,  and 
the  temper  of  the  population,  must  be  in  posses- 
sion of  the  broad  facts  with  reference  to  Eng- 
land's dealings  with  Ireland  in  the  past.  In  a 
brief  space  it  is  impossible  to  attempt  a  com- 
plete picture ;  but  a  sketch — some  delineation 
of  the  general  course  of  events — must  be  given 
to  indicate  why  Irishmen  still  harp  on  the 
wrongs  of  former  centuries.  For  this  they  are 
generally  blamed,  and  not  altogether  unjustly. 
Irishmen  are  too  prone  to  indulge  in  the  luxury 
of  contemplating  an  evil  past  to  the  exclusion  of 
practical  action  in  respect  of  present  problems ; 
but  much  may  be  said  in  extenuation.  The 
past  is  ever  before  them.  To  the  destructive 
policy  pursued  by  England  towards  Irish  indus- 
tries may  be  traced  in  large  part  the  present 
economic  poverty  of  the  country ;  and  the 
opposite  policy  of  construction  has  been  very 
insufficiently  tried.  The  bitter  recollections  of 
former  days  can  be  wiped  out  only  by  assisting 


4O  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

the  nation  to  bury  its  memories  in  a  brighter 
present,  and  in  a  future  in  which  hope  may  soar 
triumphant  and  unshackled. 

It  is  essential  to  consider  what  the  economic 
condition  of  Ireland  has  been  before  we  can 
arrive  at  any  conclusion  as  to  what  it  may  be. 
The  circumstances  of  Ireland  are  peculiar  if  not 
unique. 

The  present  economic  condition  is  not  a 
natural  one.  It  has  not  evolved  itself  out  of  the 
unimpeded  action  of  natural  causes.  It  is  not 
the  product  of  the  geographical  position  and 
inherent  resources  of  the  country,  and  of  the 
genius  and  characteristics  of  the  people  inhabit- 
ing it,  unimpeded  by  external  influence.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  the  artificial  product  of 
constant  interference  from  without. 

Discussion  on  matters  relating  to  Ireland  is 
rendered  exceptionally  difficult  because  the 
status  of  Ireland  has  never,  so  far  as  I  know, 
been  authoritatively  defined.  In  considering 
financial  relations,  the  basis  of  a  separate  entity, 
upon  which  the  Commission  of  1894  proceeded, 
is  objected  to  on  the  ground  that  Ireland  is  an 
integral  portion  of  the  United  Kingdom.  When 
alluding  to  Land  Purchase,  we  are  constantly 
informed  that  "  Great  Britain  has  pledged  her 
credit  for  Ireland,"  thereby  implying  that  the 
latter  is  not  an  integral  portion  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  is  a  separate  entity.  This  vague- 


PAST  TRADE   RELATIONS  WITH    ENGLAND.       4! 

ness  has  always  existed  ;  and  one  string  or  the 
other  has  been  played  upon  as  happened  to 
suit  the  interests  of  Great  Britain  or  England, 
for  the  moment.  Ireland  has  been  treated 
almost  simultaneously  as  a  foreign  country, 
a  semi-independent  State,  and  a  colonized 
dependency. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury Ireland  was  prosperous.  Her  agriculture 
flourished  ;  she  had  various  industries  ;  and  she 
did  a  fairly  good  trade.  The  Civil  War  destroyed 
this  satisfactory  condition  of  things.  Industries 
were  wiped  out ;  and  the  value  of  live  stock  fell  in 
eleven  years  from  .£4,000,000  to  ^500,000.  The 
catastrophe  was  great,  but  it  was  not  fatal. 
Ireland  has  always  evinced  great  recuperative 
qualities  ;  she  rapidly  recovered ;  and  from  the 
Restoration  to  the  end  of  the  century  she  made, 
it  is  said,  more  progress  than  any  other  country 
in  Europe.  She  had  a  considerable  textile 
industry,  and  a  large  and  profitable  export  trade 
in  live  cattle.  Out  of  a  population  estimated  at 
1,100,000,  one-eighth  are  stated  to  have  been 
employed  in  tillage,  about  one-sixth  in  rearing 
cattle  and  sheep,  and  one-tenth  in  the  woollen 
manufactures,  nearly  one-half  of  the  population 
finding  occupation  in  divers  minor  industries — a 
matter  very  worthy  of  note  in  connexion  with 
the  problem  of  industrial  employment  in  the 
future. 


42  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

In  her  admirable  monograph,  "  Commercial 
Relations  between  England  and  Ireland,"  Miss 
Murray  sums  up  the  position  in  these  words  :  — 

Ireland  had  every  prospect  of  developing  a  great  woollen 
manufacture  like  England,  and  she  was  possessed  of  many 
potential  sources  of  wealth  in  her  splendid  waterways,  in  the 
fertility  of  her  soil,  and  in  her  geographical  position.  The 
progress  made  in  the  years  succeeding  the  Restoration  shows 
the  recuperative  strength  of  the  country;  and  although  England 
also  progressed,  it  was  thought  by  contemporaries  that  the 
advance  made  by  Ireland  in  material  wealth  was,  during  this 
period,  greater  than  that  made  by  any  other  European 
country. 

The  economic  condition  was  sound ;  but  it  was 
not  destined  to  last.  The  extensive  business  in 
live  cattle  was  put  an  end  to  by  the  English 
Parliament.  Ireland,  discouraged  but  not  dis- 
mayed, turned  her  attention  to  the  provision 
trade  with  England,  the  Colonies,  and  the 
Continent.  It  greatly  flourished.  Ireland, 
robbed  of  her  cattle-trade,  smiled  under  the 
new  conditions.  She  soon  seized  a  large  share 
of  the  foreign  trade  in  provisions.  Miss  Murray 
adds : — 

But  not  only  had  the  Irish  begun  to  rival  the  English  in  the 
provision  trade  with  foreign  countries,  they  had  also  begun  to 
compete  in  the  same  trade  with  the  plantations.  In  the  fifteen 
years  following  the  Cattle  Acts,  Ireland  began  to  furnish  the 
plantations  with  butter,  cheese,  and  salted  beef.  She  also 
supplied  foreign  plantations,  especially  the  French  West  Indies, 
with  salted  provisions  of  all  kinds.  And  so,  during  this  period, 
England  saw  part  of  her  provision  trade  with  her  own  planta- 
tions, as  well  as  with  foreign  countries  and  their  plantations, 


PAST  TRADE   RELATIONS   WITH    ENGLAND.       43 

taken  from  her  by  the  Irish.  This,  of  course,  kept  down  the 
price  of  provisions  at  home,  after  the  first  effects  of  the  Cattle 
Acts  in  raising  the  price  of  meat  had  worked  themselves  out. 
Naturally  the  low  price  of  provisions  in  England  proved 
injurious  not  only  to  the  graziers  and  dairy-farmers,  but  also  to 
those  cattle-breeders  who  had  hoped  to  gain  so  much  by  the 
Acts. 

Thus  one  of  the  most  important  permanent  results  of  the 
Cattle  Acts  was  to  give  Ireland  a  comparatively  large  provision 
trade  with  foreign  countries  and  English  and  foreign  planta- 
tions. The  establishment  of  this  trade  led  directly  to  an 
increase  in  Irish  shipping;  and,  even  as  early  as  1670,  Sir  Joshua 
Child  noticed  that  the  cities  and  port-towns  of  Ireland  had 
greatly  increased  in  building  and  shipping. 

The  Irish  people  did  so  well  that  they  aroused 
the  jealousy  of  their  neighbours,  with  the  result 
that  a  most  lucrative  branch — the  Colonial  trade 
— was  prohibited. 

From  the  prostration  consequent  upon  the 
Great  Revolution  in  1688,  Ireland,  economically 
speaking,  speedily  recovered,  mainly  owing  to 
the  great  expansion  of  her  woollen  manufactures. 
She  beat  England  in  her  own  markets,  with  the 
usual  results.  Export  duties  were  imposed  on 
Irish  woollen  manufactures  destined  for  the 
English  market,  of  such  a  character  as,  with  the 
addition  of  the  English  import  duties,  effectu- 
ally to  stifle  the  trade.  The  exportation  of 
woollen  goods  to  foreign  countries  was  soon  after 
prohibited.  The  great  woollen  trade  was  thus 
killed,  and  a  severe  blow  was  dealt  to  the 
industrial  habits  of  the  population.  The  linen 
trade  alone  received  some  encouragement,  not, 


44  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

however,  of  a  permanent  character.  The  system 
of  bounties  upon  the  English  export  trade  in 
linen  goods  effectually  checked  the  growth  of 
that  industry  also  in  Ireland.  Nor  was  this 
deliberately  destructive  policy  confined  to  the 
great  woollen  and  linen  trades.  Another  textile 
industry,  cotton,  was  interfered  with.  Glass, 
hats,  iron  manufacture,  sugar-refining,  whatever 
business  Ireland  turned  her  hand  to,  and  always 
with  success,  was,  in  turn,  restricted.  The 
Colonial  and  Indian  markets  were  closed  against 
Irish  goods,  and  prohibitive  duties  were  placed 
against  their  entrance  into  the  British  markets. 
The  consequence  of  this  policy  was  to  check,  if 
not  entirely  destroy,  the  natural  capacity  of  the 
people  for  the  manufacturing  industries,  and 
to  force  them  to  turn  their  attention  almost 
exclusively  to  agriculture. 

Even  agriculture  was  not  allowed  to  pursue  a 
natural  course.  The  remission  of  tithes  on 
pasture- land  in  Ireland,  together  with  the  effect 
of  bounties  on  the  exportation  of  English  wheat, 
operated  against  wheat-growing  in  Ireland, 
causing  a  great  diminution  of  employment  and 
consequent  distress.  Owing  partly  to  purely 
natural  causes,  a  reaction  set  in,  and  England 
ceased  to  be  an  exporter  of  corn.  Ireland  began 
to  supply  her,  and  a  large  increase  in  the  area 
of  arable  land  was  the  result.  The  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  saw  a  period  of  prosperity. 


PAST  TRADE   RELATIONS  WITH    ENGLAND.       45 

The  price  of  provisions  had  risen  in  England  to 
famine  rates.  Ireland's  demands  for  freedom  to 
trade  were  granted,  and  all  legislative  restric- 
tions upon  exports  were  removed.  Agriculture, 
sea  fisheries,  commerce  of  all  kinds,  flourished 
greatly  ;  but  the  period  was  short-lived.  Over- 
exportation  of  grain  caused  a  shortage  in  Ireland. 
England,  by  the  imposition  of  protective  duties, 
stopped  the  export  of  manufactures  from  Ireland 
to  her  ports.  Yet,  on  the  whole,  the  latter  part 
of  the  century  showed  both  prosperity  and  pro- 
gress. The  economic  condition  of  the  country 
compares  favourably  with  the  condition  towards 
the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  popu- 
lation was  slightly  greater,  and,  what  is  of  much 
more  importance,  the  proportion  of  that  popula- 
tion employed  in  industries  was  decidedly  larger. 
Industries  were  fairly  diffused  over  the  whole 
country,  and  a  reasonable  balance  between 
arable  and  pasture  land  existed. 

Miss  Murray1  has  dealt  in  some  detail  with 
this  revival  in  a  period  when  Ireland  was  still 
largely  shut  out  from  the  English  market,  but 
when  she  had  regained  some  measure  of 
commercial  independence.  It  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  years  of  which  Miss  Murray 
writes  so  lucidly  were  those  which  followed 
on  the  period  when  commerce  in  Ireland  had 

1 "  Commercial  Relations  between  England  and  Ireland." 


46         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

been  throttled  by  restrictions  of  many  descrip- 
tions applying  to  the  cattle,  woollen,  and  other 
trades,  and  intercourse  with  foreign  countries 
and  the  Colonies.  With  the  grant  of  greater 
freedom  of  trade,  Ireland  revived.  Miss  Murray 
states  : — 

Broadly  speaking,  the  country  began  to  prosper  from  as 
early  as  1780  ;  this  was  stated  as  an  acknowledged  fact  by  the 
Irish  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  was  given  by  him  as 
his  reason  for  lowering  the  Government  rate  of  interest  from 
6  per  cent,  to  5  per  cent.  Credit,  indeed,  recovered  almost 
at  once,  and  we  hear  nothing  more  of  the  difficulty  of  borrow- 
ing money  or  of  raising  funds  by  means  of  fresh  taxation. 
The  Irish  Commons  did  much  to  foster  this  new  prosperity. 
They  could  not  spend  huge  sums  of  money  like  England  in 
promoting  trade  and  manufactures  ;  but  the  sums  they  did 
spend  were  wisely  allotted.  The  industrial  aspect  of  Ireland 
rapidly  changed.  Ruined  factories  sprang  into  life,  and  new 
ones  were  built ;  the  old  corn  mills  which  had  ceased  working 
so  long  were  everywhere  busy ;  the  population  of  the  towns 
began  to  increase ;  the  standard  of  living  among  the  artizan 
class  rose ;  and  even  the  condition  of  the  peasantry  changed 
slightly  for  the  better.  Dublin,  instead  of  being  sunk  in  decay, 
assumed  the  appearance  of  a  thriving  town.  Commercial 
prosperity,  combined  with  the  new  independent  position  of  the 
Irish  Parliament,  brought  with  it  other  advantages.  Absentees 
began  to  return  to  their  country,  attracted  by  the  brilliant  life 
of  the  Irish  capital.  Dublin  became  a  home  of  arts  and 
learning.  Magnificent  public  buildings  sprang  up.  The 
Dublin  Society  was  givep  liberal  grants  by  the  Legislature  to 
enable  it  to  encourage  Irish  manufactures  and  agriculture. 
Parliament  took  the  repair  of  the  streets  from  the  hands  of  a 
corrupt  Corporation ;  the  principal  streets  were  enlarged,  and 
a  great  new  bridge  built. 

At  the  same  time  the  popular  party  in  the  House  of 
Commons  took  up  the  cause  of  the  poor.  The  conditions  of 
prison-life  were  bettered ;  the  criminal  law  was  revised  \  and, 


PAST   TRADE  RELATIONS  WITH    ENGLAND.       47 

probably  for  the  first  time  in  modern  history,  free  public 
baths  for  the  poor  were  established.  In  fact,  the  independent 
Irish  Legislature  set  itself  to  promote  the  material  prosperity 
of  the  country  in  every  possible  way ;  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  its  efforts  had  much  to  say  to  the  really  surprising  com- 
mercial progress  which  was  made  from  1780  until  the  years 
immediately  preceding  the  Union.  The  Irish  fisheries  became 
the  envy  and  admiration  of  Great  Britain ;  and  agriculture 
increased  rapidly.  Various  manufactures  in  Ireland  began  to 
thrive  ;  the  manufacture  of  hats,  of  boots  and  shoes,  of  candles 
and  soap,  of  blankets  and  carpets,  of  woollens,  of  printed 
cottons  and  fustians,  of  cabinets  and  of  glass,  all  sprang  into 
importance,  while  the  linen  manufacture,  which  had  decayed 
during  the  American  War,  quickly  revived,  and  in  ten  years 
the  exports  of  various  kinds  of  linen  doubled. 

All  this  progress  was  made  whilst  Irish  manufactures,  with 
the  one  exception  of  certain  kinds  of  linens,  were  denied 
admittance  to  the  British  market,  and  whilst  Irish  ports  were 
open  to  all  British  goods.  The  majority  of  the  members 
of  the  Irish  Parliament  never  evinced  the  slightest  wish 
to  retaliate  on  England  by  imposing  heavy  duties  on  British 
goods ;  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  were  at  liberty 
to  do  so  had  they  wished.  In  1790,  when  applications  were 
made  by  persons  engaged  in  the  leather  trade  in  Great 
Britain  to  limit  by  high  duties  the  exportation  of  bark  to 
Ireland,  Lord  Westmorland,  then  Lord  Lieutenant,  opposed 
the  scheme  and  spoke  in  high  terms  of  the  conduct  of  Ireland 
in  commercial  matters  since  the  failure  of  the  Commercial 
Propositions.  He  said  that  he  had  never  found  any  desire  on 
the  part  of  responsible  men  in  Ireland  to  snatch  at  any 
commercial  advantage  for  their  country  at  the  expense  of 
Great  Britain,  and  that  in  all  matters  relative  to  the  trade  of 
the  Empire,  he  had  ever  found  the  Irish  Parliament  ready  and 
willing  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  Government.  Such  words 
from  a  Lord  Lieutenant  are,  indeed,  the  best  proof  of  the 
moderation  of  the  Irish  Legislature  in  its  relations  with  Great 
Britain.  This  moderation  is  all  the  more  to  be  admired  on 
account  of  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  Parliament  by  the 


48  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

Irish  manufacturing  interest  for  protection  against  British 
manufactures.  But  Parliament  had  no  wish  to  stir  up  fresh 
strife;  and,  moreover,  many  of  the  members  were  afraid  that, 
if  high  duties  were  imposed  on  British  goods,  England  would 
cease  to  import  Irish  linens.  This  would  probably  not  have 
injured  Ireland  to  the  extent  supposed,  as  there  was  such  a 
large  and  growing  demand  for  her  linens  from  America  and  the 
plantations.  But  the  Irish  Parliament  was  always  nervously 
anxious  not  to  lose  English  custom,  and  it  preferred  to  accept 
the  commercial  inequality  which  existed  rather  than  provoke 
England  to  possible  retaliation.  Indeed,  Irish  free  trade  was 
a  jnockery  as  far  as  England  was  concerned  ;  and  it  is  because 
of  this  fact  that  the  progress  of  Ireland  in  trade  and  manufac- 
tures in  the  years  succeeding  1780  is  rather  surprising. 

Into  the  consequences  of  the  great  Napoleonic 
struggle,  the  inflation  of  prices,  the  abnormal 
production  of  wheat  and  minute  subdivision  of 
land,  the  awful  visitation  of  the  famine,  and 
reaction  towards  pasture  and  consolidation,  and 
the  effects  of  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  I 
need  not  enter  here.  All  these  subjects  belong 
rather  to  the  realm  of  natural  cause  and  effect ; 
and  I  am  concerned  only  to  point  to  a  hostile 
policy,  deliberately  inaugurated  and  consistently 
pursued.  That  policy  on  the  part  of  England 
was  dictated  partly  by  class  selfishness— the  fear 
of  Irish  competition  entertained  by  individual 
trades  or  traders — partly,  on  larger  grounds,  by 
the  dread,  difficult  to  realize  now,  that  Ireland 
would  outstrip  England  in  the  industrial  race — 
and  partly  by  motives  of  a  political  and  dynastic 
character.  It  was  a  policy  eminently  successful. 
Irish  industry  was  crushed  ;  but  that  the  policy 


PAST  TRADE   RELATIONS  WITH    ENGLAND.       49 

was  short-sighted  in  the  extreme  will  not,  I 
think,  be  disputed  by  anyone  now.  It  fulfilled 
its  object,  but  it  left  behind  a  heritage  of  woe. 

These  facts,  with  which  all  students  of  history 
are  conversant,  must  be  mentioned  because  they 
demonstrate  the  manufacturing,  industrial,  and 
trading  capacity  of  a  people  whose  energies  are 
now  almost  exclusively  limited  to  agricultural 
pursuits ;  and  because  these  natural  charac- 
teristics must  be  borne  in  mind  in  considering 
the  results  likely  to  be  produced  upon  the 
economic  condition  of  the  people  by  social  or 
political  reform.  Potentialities,  as  well  as 
actualities,  must  be  weighed  and  balanced ; 
what  might  have  been  but  for  artificial  interfer- 
ence must  be  considered  in  order  to  form  an 
estimate  of  what  possibly  may  be. 


5<D  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER  III. 

LAND   PURCHASE   DIFFICULTIES. 

IT  is  impossible  to  appreciate  the  social  and 
economic  state  of  Ireland,  and  the  changes  likely 
to  be  wrought  by  recent  legislation,  unless  the 
broad  lines  of  the  development  of  the  land 
system  are  understood,  and  it  is  realized  that  as 
regards  land-tenure,  as  in  many  other  respects, 
Ireland  differs  radically  from  England. 

The  land  system  introduced  from  Normandy 
into  England,  and  from  England  into  Ireland, 
never  took  root  in  the  latter  country.  The 
native  system  absorbed  and  changed  it ;  and, 
down  to  quite  modern  times,  the  connexion  of 
landlord  and  tenant  resembled  the  relationship 
of  tribal  chief  to  tribe,  rather  than  that  exist- 
ing between  landowner  and  tenant-farmer  in 
England.  Feudalism  gradually  developed  in 
England  into  the  existing  system,  which  may  be 
shortly  described  as  a  business  arrangement, 
tempered  by  sentiment  and  tradition — an 
arrangement  under  which  the  duty  of  providing 
permanent  capital  accompanies  the  rights  of 
ownership.  In  Ireland  the  transition  from  tribal 
rights  to  feudalism,  and  from  feudalism  to 
absolute  ownership  in  the  modern  sense,  was 
never  acquiesced  in  ;  and,  in  spite  of  modern 


LAND    PURCHASE    DIFFICULTIES.  5! 

requirements,  the  necessary  changes  of  tenure 
and  custom  took  place  only  partially ;  the 
physical,  social,  and  economic  conditions  of 
the  country  being  against  them.  Under  these 
circumstances  it  is  not  surprising  that  land- 
tenure  and  the  relations  between  owner  and 
occupier  gave  rise  to  perpetual  friction.  It  is  in 
putting  an  end  to  that  friction  that  the  Land 
Act  of  1903  conferred  one  great  benefit  upon 
the  country. 

The  English  system  was  not  fully  established 
by  law  until  1860,  and  it  did  not  last  long.  It 
was  interfered  with  by  a  series  of  twenty-five 
enactments, — twenty-five  attempts  by  England  to 
solve  the  Irish  land  problem  ! ! — of  which  the  Act 
of  1 88 1  was  the  most  important.  That  Act 
was  productive  of  both  good  and  evil.  Had 
it  been  honest  and  statesmanlike,  it  might 
possibly  have  sufficed ;  but  it  was  neither.  If 
fair  compensation  had  been  given  for  actual 
loss  of  property,  it  would  not  have  left  the 
landowning  class  embittered  by  a  deep  sense 
of  injustice.  Had  it  made  a  definite  reduction 
of  rent,  variable  subsequently  according  to 
values  of  produce,  it  might  have  satisfied 
tenant-farmers ;  and  the  paralysing  effect  of 
perpetual  and  expensive  litigation  might  have 
been  avoided.  As  it  is,  occupiers  unquestionably 
benefited  by  that  and  subsequent  similar  Acts  ; 
but  it  is  very  certain  that  the  soil  of  the  country 


52  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

was  not  made  more  productive.  Legislation 
shut  the  throttle  on  the  stream  of  capital.  No 
landlord  could  with  safety  put  a  penny  into  the 
land  ;  it  was  to  the  advantage  of  the  tenant  to 
make  what  he  could  out  of  his  holding  for  a 
short  period,  and  to  present  it  for  revaluation  in 
the  worst  possible  condition.  Such  a  system  of 
land-tenure  was  bound  to  be  disastrous.  It 
encouraged  bad  farming.  It  demoralized  the 
industry.  In  the  restoration  of  single  ownership, 
by  transfer  of  the  owner's  interest  to  the  occupier, 
lay  the  only  remedy  ;  and  it  is  in  providing  that 
remedy  that  the  Act  of  1903  has  conferred  a 
second  vast  benefit  upon  the  country.  What 
will  be  the  result  of  this  legislation  upon  the 
two  classes  primarily  affected  by  it  ? 

The  occupier  in  acquiring  the  freehold  obtains 
absolute  security  for  the  full  enjoyment  of  all 
the  fruits  of  his  capital,  intelligence,  energy,  and 
labour ;  and  such  security  acts  as  the  strongest 
possible  stimulus  to  the  employment  of  capital, 
intelligence,  energy,  and  labour.  The  moral 
effect  of  ownership  is  also  great  and  salutary. 
The  incentive  to  effort  that  permeates  a  man's 
being  when  he  looks  upon  his  fields  and  can 
say,  "That  is  my  very  own,"  is  powerful, 
though  difficult  to  define  ;  it  makes  for  courage, 
self-reliance,  and  self-respect. 

It  is  more  difficult  to  gauge  the  effect  upon 
the  landowning  class.  If,  as  some  people  suppose, 


LAND    PURCHASE   DIFFICULTIES.  53 

it  will  produce  a  tendency  towards  emigration, 
the  result  upon  the  country  will  be  injurious, 
not  only  economically  through  the  withdrawal 
of  money,  but  also  socially  through  the  loss  of  a 
cultured  class.  But  is  there  any  sufficient 
reason  to  dread  such  results  ?  I  think  not. 
Loss  of  social  influence  and  political  power 
attaching  to  the  possession  of  landed  property, 
which  might  in  some  other  cases  largely  affect 
the  issue,  may,  in  the  case  under  consideration, 
be  disregarded ;  or,  if  regarded,  the  probability 
of  positive  gain  in  both  respects  must  be  ad- 
mitted. Sentiment,  tradition,  the  attractions  of 
home,  the  comparative  cheapness  of  living,  and 
of  field  sports  and  outdoor  amusements,  must  be 
taken  into  account.  As  a  class  there  can  be  no 
question  that  the  financial  circumstances  of  the 
landed  gentry  will  be  improved  by  sale.  Under 
the  provisions  in  the  Act  for  sale  and  repurchase 
they  may  become  occupying  owners  of  their 
demesne  lands,  and  they  should  be  able  to 
obtain  under  the  Act — but  are  not  obtaining — 
what  they  greatly  need,  capital  for  the  improve- 
ment of  those  lands.  There  are  many  and 
excellent  reasons  why  the  resident  gentry  should 
continue  to  live  in  Ireland  ;  and,  fortunately, 
the  reports  of  the  Estates  Commissioners  show 
that  they  are  continuing  to  be  resident,  farm- 
ing their  own  land,  and  retaining  the  ameni- 
ties of  their  position.  They  will  find,  as  the 


54         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

country*settles  down,  as  large  a  field  for  pleasure 
as  and  a  larger  scope  for  usefulness  than  they 
have  hitherto  enjoyed. 

The  Land  Act  of  1903  was  incomplete  in  one 
respect ;  and  is  not  working  satisfactorily  in 
others.  It  was  incomplete  in  so  far  as  it  made 
no  provision  for  the  agricultural  labourers. 
This  deficiency  has  been  made  good  by  the 
measure  which  has  been  passed  by  Parliament. 
It  is  unsatisfactory  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the 
congested  portions  of  Ireland — the  uneconomic 
West — and  the  reinstatement  of  evicted  tenants. 
These  two  problems  to  some  extent  hang 
together.  In  the  latter,  money  will  probably 
be  found  to  be  the  best  solvent.  The  quantity 
of  land  that  can,  under  any  circumstances,  be 
purchased  is  not  likely  to  suffice  to  satisfy 
all  the  requirements  of  migration,  the  enlarge- 
ment of  uneconomic  holdings,  and  the  settle- 
ment on  other  holdings  of  sitting  tenants 
of  evicted  farms.  It  is  probable  also  that 
in  most  cases  such  tenants  would  prefer  the 
equivalent  in  cash  to  a  farm  in  some  part 
of  the  country  in  which  they  are  strangers. 
With  the  cash  they  could  wait  the  opportunity 
to  purchase  a  tenant's  interest  or  a  free-hold 
farm  in  their  own  original  locality,  or  they  could 
invest  it  in  some  other  business.  The  total 
fund  at  the  disposition  of  the  Estates  Com- 
missioners for  the  purposes  of  enlargement  of 


LAND    PURCHASE    DIFFICULTIES.  55 

holdings,  migration,  the  improvement  of  estates 
purchased,  and  of  the  restoration  of  evicted 
tenants,  amounted,  when  the  Act  came  into 
operation,  to  £250,000.  Such  a  sum  is  mani- 
festly inadequate.  The  whole  unexpended  bal- 
ance should  be  devoted  to  the  evicted  tenants. 
Money  laid  out  on  reinstatement  is  a  good 
investment,  for  neither  the  purchase  clauses  of 
the  Act  nor  the  general  policy  of  peace  and 
conciliation  can  have  fair  play  until  a  question 
so  provocative  of  irritation  is  set  at  rest.  Down 
to  March  3ist  last  5,287  applications  had  been 
received,  and  of  these  5,077  were  applications 
coming  within  the  Act.  According  to  the  Com- 
missioners' report  only  103  of  these  tenants  had 
been  reinstated  or  provided  with  holdings  by 
the  Land  Commission,  while  284  are  known 
to  have  been  reinstated  or  provided  with 
holdings  by  landlords.  The  Estates  Commis- 
sioners believe  that  others  have  been  reinstated 
by  the  landlords  or  otherwise  without  their 
knowledge.  But  so  far  as  the  Commissioners 
are  concerned  the  sections  of  the  Act  dealing 
with  evicted  tenants  have  been  practically  a 
dead  letter. 

The  effect  of  land-purchase  upon  other  classes 
of  the  community  need  not  be  dealt  with  at 
great  length.  With  the  possible  exception  of 
gentlemen  connected  with  the  law,  who  may 
suffer  from  a  diminution  of  litigation,  other 
classes  must  share  in  any  benefit  accruing  to  the 


56  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

classes  engaged  in  agriculture.  Shopkeepers 
and  retail  traders  depend  upon  the  requirements 
and  welfare  of  the  agricultural  interest ;  mer- 
chants and  shippers  depend  upon  the  demands 
of  the  retailers  ;  and  general  prosperity  reacts 
favourably  upon  freighters  and  all  those  con- 
nected with  railway  service  and  other  means  of 
communication.  As  to  the  probable  con- 
sequences upon  the  banking  interest,  banks  may 
suffer  in  their  position  of  permanent  creditors 
through  the  repayment  of  mortgage  debt  carry- 
ing a  high  rate  of  interest ;  but  in  their  position 
of  lenders  of  floating  capital,  they  will  gain. 
They  may  lose  through  the  loss  of  estate 
accounts,  involving,  as  they  generally  do,  fluc- 
tuating balances  to  the  credit  and  debit  of  the 
estate,  both  of  which  conditions  are  profitable 
to  the  bank  ;  but  they  will  gain  through  the 
superior  financial  position  of  both  landlord  and 
tenant,  consequent  upon  sale.  An  important 
and  increasing  amount  of  liquid  cash  will  be 
available,  which  will  pass  through  bankers' 
hands  for  longer  or  shorter  periods.  With  a 
large  amount  of  cash  set  free,  a  brisk  demand 
for  money  and  better  security,  the  banking 
interest  must,  I  should  say,  gain  rather  than 
lose. 

Perfect  confidence  in  the  power  of  land-pur- 
chase to  effect  a  beneficial  change  of  vast 
magnitude  might  be  felt  were  it  not  for  the 


LAND    PURCHASE    DIFFICULTIES.  57 

lamentable  fact  that  its  salutary  operations  are 
seriously  checked.  A  revolution  of  this  character 
should  be  accomplished  as  rapidly  as  possible 
in  order  to  produce  its  full  economic  results. 
Long  delay  in  obtaining  the  purchase-money  is 
vexatious  to  both  parties,  and  this  should  by 
some  means  be  avoided.  The  application  of 
purchase- money  to  the  liquidation  of  incum- 
brances  is  of  the  essence  of  the  transaction  in 
most  cases.  Occupiers  cannot  pay  more  than 
3^  per  cent,  on  the  purchase  price  pending  com- 
pletion, and  are  naturally  anxious  to  enjoy  with- 
out protracted  delay  the  benefits  of  the  Act. 
Owners  cannot  make  a  loss  of  the  difference 
between  3^  and  4^-  or  5  per  cent,  payable 
on  mortgage  debt.  It  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  mortgagees  will  reduce  interest  to  3^.  If 
money  cannot  be  found  to  finance  agreements 
with  reasonable  rapidity,  or  if  some  means  are 
not  adopted  whereby  selling  landowners  can 
raise  cheap  loans  on  the  security  of  a  sanctioned 
agreement  for  the  period  elapsing  between  the 
sanction  of  the  agreement  and  the  payment  of 
the  purchase  price  ;  if  administrative  machinery 
does  not  work  with  smooth  rapidity ;  if  unneces- 
sary attention  to  minute  details  is  suffered  to 
produce  interminable  delays,  a  situation  may  be 
created  which  will  seriously  imperil  the  results 
of  an  Act  so  potential  for  good.  It  is  a  thousand 
pities  that  the  Land  Commission  were  not  em- 


58  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

powered  to  guarantee  title,  charging  a  sufficient 
fine  to  create  an  insurance  fund.  That  agricul- 
ture will  improve  under  the  operation  of  the  Act 
of  1903,  if  a  short-sighted  policy  of  obstruction 
and  delay  is  not  pursued,  is  not  a  mere  specula- 
tive opinion.  Land-purchase  schemes  have  been 
in  operation  for  some  years;  and,  judging  by 
actual  experience,  the  improvement  consequent 
upon  purchase  is  a  demonstrated  fact. 

Unhappily  the  whole  of  the  legal  machinery 
connected  with  the  solution  of  the  Irish  Land 
problem  is  clogged.  The  work  of  fixing  judicial 
rents  is  greatly  in  arrears.  During  last  year 
the  entire  number  of  fair  rents  disposed  of 
by  the  Commissioners,  Special  Commission, 
and  the  Civil  Bill  Courts  was  5,513;  but 
the  records  show  an  arrear  of  undisposed 
cases  amounting  to  no  fewer  than  17,816. 
From  these  figures  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
business  of  fixing  judicial  rents  is  hopelessly 
behindhand,  to  the  extent  of  about  two  years' 
work  at  the  present  rate  of  progress.  This  must 
have  a  most  deterrent  effect  upon  tenants,  parti- 
cularly as  the  hearing  of  appeals  is  also  most 
seriously  in  arrears.  In  1905  3,505  appeals  were 
heard,  and  2,197  were  withdrawn,  making  a 
total  of  5,702  appeals  which  were  disposed  of. 
Whether  this  large  number  of  appeals  were 
withdrawn  because  the  applicants  realized  the 
delay  entailed,  or  whether  they  were  withdrawn 


LAND    PURCHASE    DIFFICULTIES.  59 

owing  to  any  action  taken  under  the  Land  Act  of 
1903  by  landlords  or  tenants,  is  not  revealed. 
The  main  point  is  that,  including  withdrawals 
and  appeals  which  were  adjudicated  upon,  5,702 
were  dealt  with,  and  over  9,000  remained  unheard 
on  March  3ist  last.  The  cumulative  effect  of 
these  two  delays  is  very  appreciable.  A  tenant 
coming  to  the  Land  Court  to  have  a  judicial 
rent  fixed  has  the  prospect  of  waiting  two  years 
for  a  decision ;  and  if  he  or  his  landlord  gives 
notice  of  appeal,  there  is  a  prospect  of  over  two 
years  before  a  final  decision  is  arrived  at.  In 
view  of  the  proceedings  under  the  Land  Act  of 
1903  these  facts  are  noteworthy. 

Turning  to  actual  Land  Purchase,  from  the 
latest  Report  of  the  Estates  Commissioners, 
bringing  the  story  of  their  operations  down 
to  March  3ist  last,  it  appears  that  at  that 
date  applications  had  been  received  for  loans 
on  land  sales  amounting,  in  round  figures,  to 
£35,500,000  since  the  Act  came  into  operation 
on  November  ist,  1903,  a  period  of  two  years 
and  five  months.  These  figures  are  significant 
when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  under  all  previous 
Land  Acts  the  total  sum  advanced  amounted  to 
only  £25,000,000.  This  rush,  if  I  may  use  the 
word,  to  take  advantage  of  the  measure  of  1903, 
bears  conclusive  testimony  to  the  strong  wish  of 
the  landlords,  on  the  one  hand,  to  sell,  and  the 
tenants,  on  the  other,  to  buy  ;  and  it  might  be 


6O  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

imagined  that,  in  the  face  of  a  great  national 
response  of  this  character  to  the  enactment  of 
Parliament,  the  executive  authority  would  strain 
every  effort  to  further  the  work  of  social  amelio- 
ration which  must  result  from  the  conclusion  of 
the  sales  of  those  3,596  estates,  embracing 
97,245  holdings,  included  in  these  applications. 
First  impressions  always  make  a  deep  mark ; 
and,  in  the  interests  of  the  future  of  Ireland,  it 
was  most  desirable  that  the  operation  of  the  Act 
from  the  very  first  should  proceed  rapidly  and 
smoothly,  in  order  to  preserve  the  feeling  of 
trust  in  the  good  intentions  of  the  Imperial 
Parliament  which  the  Land  Conference  and  the 
passage  of  the  Land  Act  had  engendered.  The 
summary  return  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Estates 
Commissioners  shows  that  these  legitimate  anti- 
cipations have  not  been  realized.  Down  to  the 
end  of  March  last,  loans  had  been  sanctioned  in 
connexion  with  only  just  over  one  thousand  of 
these  estates,  and  the  actual  amount  of  money 
paid  over  had  reached  a  sum  of  less  than  ten 
millions,  or  a  little  over  one  quarter  of  the  total 
sum  applied  for.  In  the  first  two  years  and  five 
months,  the  Commissioners  were  apparently 
able  to  deal  only  with  something  over  three 
millions  sterling  a  year,  even  with  their  present 
staff;  whereas,  when  the  Act  was  introduced,  it 
was  confidently  hoped  that  the  minimum  sum 
would  be  five  millions  in  each  of  the  three  first 


LAND   PURCHASE   DIFFICULTIES.  6l 

years,  and  that  subsequently  the  amount  would 
be  increased.  When  the  Land  Act  was  intro- 
duced, the  Government  expressed  a  belief  that 
its  operations  might  be  completed  within  a 
period  of  fifteen  years,  and  that,  by  that  time, 
the  whole  of  the  land  of  Ireland  would  have 
passed  from  the  present  landlords  into  the  hands 
of  the  occupying  owners.  Unless,  however,  the 
present  rate  of  progress  of  the  Commissioners  is 
very  greatly  expedited,  it  would  seem  probable 
that  the  process  of  transfer  will  still  be  in  opera- 
tion thirty  years  hence.  During  all  this  period 
not  only  will  Ireland  remain  in  an  unrestful 
state,  inevitable  during  the  progress  of  such  a 
colossal  and  unexampled  measure  of  land  reform, 
but  the  country  will  fail  to  gain  those  collateral 
benefits  from  the  Land  Act  of  which  a  good 
deal  was  heard  when  the  measure  was  under 
discussion.  On  the  introduction  of  the  Land 
Bill,  Mr.  Wyndham  stated  that  economies, 
amounting  to  a  quarter  of  a  million  a  year, 
would  be  carried  out  in  the  succeeding  five 
years  in  the  administration  of  Irish  Government; 
and  the  anticipation,  whether  well  founded  or 
not,  was  entertained  that  this  "  perpetual " 
reduction  would  be  only  the  beginning  of  an  era 
of  economical  administration  in  the  central 
government  of  Ireland.  It  is  important  to  know 
what  progress  has  been  made  in  carrying  out 
this  policy  of  administrative  economy  which  was 


62         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

to  have  proceeded  pan  passu  with  the  operation 
of  the  Land  Purchase  Act. 

Again,  another  avenue  of  economy  is  closed 
so  long  as  the  operation  of  the  Land  Act  is 
delayed.  The  Land  Judge's  Court  and  the 
Land  Commission  are  costing  annually  upwards 
of  ,£133,000  and  nearly  ^180,000  respectively; 
and  the  Congested  Districts  Board,  so  far  as 
land  purchase  is  concerned,  is  painfully  and 
expensively  crawling  along  the  same  path  as 
the  Estates  Commissioners.  The  functions  of 
the  Land  Judge's  Court,  the  Land  Commission, 
the  Estates  Commission,  and  the  Congested 
Districts  Board  overlap ;  they  are  all  pursuing 
similar  objects  with  separate  staffs.  It  is 
evident  that  the  sooner  the  tenants  become 
occupying  owners,  the  sooner  the  expensive 
operations  of  the  Land  Judge's  Court  and  of 
the  Congested  Districts  Board,  and  the  rent- 
fixing  work  of  the  Land  Commissioners,  will  be 
brought  to  a  close.  These  are  points  to  which 
adequate  attention  has  not,  I  think,  been  given 
hitherto. 

Turning  to  a  more  detailed  examination  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  Estates  Commissioners 
down  to  the  end  of  March  last,  several  points  of 
great  importance  are  suggested  as  meriting 
official  elucidation.  It  will  be  seen  that  almost 
all  the  applications  received  by  the  Com- 
missioners have  been  for  direct  sales  between 


LAND    PURCHASE    DIFFICULTIES.  63 

landlord  and  tenant ;  and  in  only  fifty-four  cases 
have  applications  been  received  under  sections  6 
and  8.  These  sections  of  the  Land  Act  were 
originally  regarded  as  of  great  importance,  in 
that  the  former  authorized  the  Commissioners 
to  buy  estates  for  re-sale  to  the  tenants,  and  the 
latter  to  acquire  untenanted  land  for  redistri- 
bution, so  as  to  render  uneconomic  holdings 
economic.  It  was  thought  that  these  facilities 
would  promote  a  swift  and  equitable  adjustment 
of  the  basis  of  sales  ;  whereas,  experience  seems 
to  have  shown  that  these  sections  of  the  Act 
have  been  comparatively  inoperative. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Estates  Com- 
missioners, only  54  cases  of  sales  to  them  have 
been  concluded.  This  failure  under  section  6  of 
the  Act  has  very  prejudicially  affected  the 
reinstatement  of  evicted  tenants.  It  is  to  be 
accounted  for — at  any  rate  to  a  large  extent — 
by  the  relative  disadvantage  to  both  owners 
and  occupiers,  involved  in  sales  of  that  descrip- 
tion as  compared  with  sales  direct  from  landlord 
to  tenants.  In  the  latter  case  the  status  of  the 
tenants  is  changed  on  signing  agreements.  They 
cease  to  pay  rent,  and  pay,  in  lieu  thereof, 
interest  on  the  purchase  price  to  the  Estates 
Commissioners.  The  status  of  the  owner  is  also 
changed.  He  receives  interest  on  the  purchase 
price  from  the  Estates  Commissioners  until  the 
money  is  allocated.  In  the  former  case  rent  is 


64          THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

payable  during  the  whole  period — possibly  many 
years — over  which  proceedings  may  extend, 
even  though  owners  and  occupiers  may  have 
provisionally  agreed  upon  terms.  The  accept- 
ance by  the  owner  of  an  offer  from  the 
Commissioners  does  not  constitute  a  binding 
contract :  an  indefinite  period  may  elapse  before 
absolute  completion,  after  which  any  rent  due  is 
uncollectable  by  process  of  law.  On  comple- 
tion, the  Commissioners  have  to  deposit  the 
purchase-money ;  they  cannot,  therefore,  com- 
plete a  transaction  until  they  have  the  cash  in 
hand.  These  causes  discourage  sales  to  the 
Estates  Commissioners,  and  as  a  consequence 
retard  the  restoration  of  evicted  tenants.  The 
Land  Conference,  when  it  met  again  in  the 
autumn  of  1906,  recommended — and  I  need 
hardly  add  I  entirely  agree — such  alterations  in 
the  rules  governing  the  Estates  Commissioners, 
or,  if  necessary,  such  amendment  of  the  Act,  as 
will  remove  the  disadvantages  to  all  parties  at 
present  entailed  in  sales  to  the  Commissioners. 

Under  sub-section  4  of  section  6,  the  Estates 
Commissioners  were  also  given  power  in  the 
case  of  a  congested  estate  to  certify  to  the 
Lord  Lieutenant  that  the  purchase  and  re-sale 
of  the  estate  were  desirable  with  a  view  to  the 
wants  and  circumstances  of  the  tenants.  In 
this  circumstance  the  Commissioners  were  em- 
powered  to  purchase  the  estate  for  a  price  to 


LAND    PURCHASE   DIFFICULTIES.  65 

be  agreed  upon ;  and  the  condition  as  to  the 
re-sale  being  made  without  a  prospect  of  loss 
might  be  relaxed  to  such  an  extent  as  the 
Lord  Lieutenant  might  determine.  Under  this 
important  provision  little  has  yet  been  done, 
while  under  section  7  only  sixteen  estates  have 
been  acquired  from  the  Land  Judge. 

Notwithstanding  that  free  grants  or  re- 
payable advances  may  now  be  made  out  of  the 
reserve  fund  in  the  case  of  sales  by  landlords 
to  tenants,  as  in  the  case  of  sales  to  the  Land 
Commission,  and  that  the  area  of  useful  work 
has  been  thereby  considerably  extended,  during 
the  period  covered  by  the  Act  a  total  sum 
amounting  to  only  about  £14,000  had  been 
expended.  Of  this  sum  £9,122  was  given  by 
way  of  free  grants. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  staff  at  their 
disposition  has  been  considerably  increased, 
the  Estates  Commissioners,  even  now,  are  not 
keeping  pace  with  the  fresh  applications.  In 
the  year  ending  March  3ist  last  the  advances 
made  amounted  to  £5,202,000,  while  the  appli- 
cations for  advances,  mostly  for  direct  sales, 
lodged  during  the  same  period  of  twelve  months 
amounted  to  £15,854,000.  The  net  result  of 
the  operations  under  the  Land  Act,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  direct  sales  to  tenants  only,  is 
that,  whereas  at  the  end  of  the  financial  year 
1905  the  applications  undisposed  of  amounted 


66  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

to  just  over  twelve  and  a  half  millions,  on 
March  3ist  last  the  arrears  were  nearly  twice 
as  heavy. 

All  the  sections  of  the  Land  Act  have  failed 
to  become  actively  operative.  This  means  that 
in  one  of  its  main  purposes  the  Land  Act  is  not 
carrying  out  the  wishes  of  Parliament,  and  that 
the  wounds  and  bitterness  consequent  upon  a 
protracted  agrarian  struggle  are  not  being  healed 
and  assuaged  as  Parliament  intended  that  they 
should  be.  Small  progress  is  being  made  in 
dealing  with  bankrupt  estates  in  the  Land 
Judge's  Court;  and  comparatively  little  has 
been  done  with  a  view  to  improving  estates. 

The  Act  of  1903  must  not  be  regarded  as 
merely  an  Act  to  facilitate  the  sale  and  purchase 
of  land.  It  was  designed  to  make  a  quick  and 
permanent  settlement  of  a  great  national  ques- 
tion, and,  as  such,  it  has  to  deal  with  three 
distinct  phases  of  that  question  :  (i)  With  the 
transfer  of  ownership  generally — the  sale  and 
purchase  of  estates  which  may  be  designated 
economic ;  (2)  With  sale  and  purchase  in  the 
uneconomic  districts,  mainly  in  the  West,  and 
with  the  betterment  of  the  population  in  those 
districts  ;  (3)  With  the  reinstatement  of  evicted 
tenants.  Viewing  the  operations  of  the  Act 
from  the  impersonal  standpoint  of  the  State, 
it  may  safely  be  said  that,  in  regard  to  the 
first  phase,  it  is  working  fairly  well.  It  may  be 


LAND    PURCHASE    DIFFICULTIES.  67 

that,  owing  to  a  natural  reaction  against  ill- 
advised  attempts  to  "bear"  the  market,  prices 
are  ruling  high  ;  but,  be  that  as  it  may,  the 
State  is  perfectly  safe.  Advances  anywhere 
within  the  zones  are  well  secured  on  what  may 
be  termed  economic  holdings.  The  number  of 
applications  proves  the  willingness  of  owners  to 
sell,  and  of  occupiers  to  buy ;  and,  were  it  not 
for  the  vexatious  complications  and  miraculous 
delays  that  occur,  the  Act  might  be  pronounced 
successful  so  far  as  phase  one  is  concerned.  Un- 
fortunately, the  same  cannot  be  said  of  phases  two 
and  three.  Little  progress  has  been  made  in  the 
uneconomic  West.  The  problem  is  different  from 
that  existing  throughout  the  country  generally, 
and  consequently  requires  different  treatment. 
There  the  Commissioners  have  to  deal  with  the 
occupiers  of  numerous  small  holdings,  paying 
rent,  as  is  alleged,  of  the  character  of  an  accom- 
modation rent.  The  tenants  are  anxious  to  buy, 
actuated  by  many  motives,  and  among  them  the 
desire  to  escape,  even  momentarily,  from  press- 
ing difficulties.  It  may  be  only  a  leap  from  the 
frying-pan  into  the  fire  for  them,  poor  creatures, 
but  there  is  respite  during  the  leap.  Purchase 
relieves  them  from  the  strangle  of  arrears,  and 
they  may  be  willing  to  buy  on  almost  any  terms. 
If  the  terms  are  based  on  a  rent  in  excess  of  the 
actual  value  of  the  land,  it  is  improbable  that 
an  advance  would  be  properly  secured,  and  the 


68         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

interests  of  the  State  must  be  safeguarded. 
Rent  must  be  the  basis  of  purchase,  and  the 
first  step  is,  as  it  seems  to  me,  to  have  fair  rents 
fixed  speedily,  and  at  whatever  cost,  over  these 
impoverished  and  congested  districts.  That 
would  enable  the  lender,  whether  it  be  the 
Estates  Commissioners  or  the  Congested  Dis- 
tricts Board,  to  estimate  the  value  of  the 
security  and  the  amount  that  could  be  advanced 
upon  it.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  these  un- 
economic holdings  lie  considerable  tracts  of 
good  land,  let  to  graziers  on  the  eleven  months' 
system,  which  does  not  constitute  a  tenancy.  A 
sufficiency  of  such  untenanted  land  is  urgently 
required  by  the  Congested  Districts  Board  and 
the  Estates  Commissioners,  and  is,  in  fact, 
necessary  for  them  if  anything  is  to  be  done 
towards  the  improvement  of  these  uneconomic 
regions.  A  good  price  should  be  paid ;  but 
inflated  prices,  due  to  a  corner  in  land,  are  not 
justifiable.  Whether  terms  of  purchase  are  cal- 
culated on  accommodation  rents,  and  exorbi- 
tant prices  are  asked  for  untenanted  land,  or 
not,  it  is  impossible,  in  default  of  evidence,  to 
say.  As  regards  the  second  failure  of  the  Act — 
the  reinstatement  of  evicted  tenants — here  again 
the  cause  of  failure  cannot  be  postulated  owing 
to  lack  of  evidence  ;  but 'it  seems  clear  the  Com- 
missioners are  starved  for  want  of  funds.  It 
would  be  manifestly  unjust  to  ask  a  landlord  to 


LAND    PURCHASE    DIFFICULTIES.  69 

restore  as  tenant  a  man  who  had  been  evicted 
years  ago  for  non-payment  of  rent,  owing,  pro- 
bably, large  arrears.  The  only  result  would  be 
that  the  tenant  would  in  a  short  time  have  to 
be  evicted  again.  Reinstatement  should  be 
dependent  upon,  and  preliminary  to,  purchase. 
In  the  case  of  evicted  holdings  remaining  in 
the  landlord's  hands,  or  under  his  immediate 
control,  it  would  be  equally  unjust  to  assess 
the  value  of  the  holding  on  the  basis  of 
the  former  rent.  The  farm  was  probably  com- 
pletely run  out  when  the  eviction  took  place, 
and  money — and  in  many  cases  large  sums  of 
money — may  have  been  laid  out  upon  it  since  it 
came  into  the  landlord's  hands.  It  is  only 
equitable  that  a  purchase  price  should  be  based 
upon  the  farm  as  it  stands.  I  admit  that  I  am 
groping  round  these  subjects  in  the  dark,  or, 
at  any  rate,  in  the  dusk.  Evidence,  which  is 
scanty  now,  will  doubtless  be  abundant  when 
Lord  Dudley's  Royal  Commission  has  concluded 
its  labours.  All  that  I  wish  to  emphasize  is 
that  the  Act  of  1903  was  passed  as  a  great 
instrument  of  settlement,  and  the  credit  of  the 
State  pledged  for  one  hundred  and  twenty 
millions  on  that  presumption ;  and  that  as  a 
settlement  it  is  bound  to  fail  unless,  either 
through  its  operations  or  by  some  other  means, 
the  restoration  of  evicted  tenants  and  improved 
economic  conditions  in  the  West  are  effected. 


7O  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

The  financial  aspects  of  the  Land  Act  are 
most  unsatisfactory.  Last  spring  a  further 
issue  of  Irish  Land  Stock  was  announced, 
postponed,  and  then  hastily  decided  upon, 
with  the  result  that  the  Stock  already  issued 
was  depressed ;  and  when  the  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer  changed  his  mind,  and 
suddenly  asked  the  money  market  to  absorb 
seven  millions  of  the  new  Stock,  the  price  had 
fallen  to  about  £8g  per  £100  stock.  Is  it  not 
due  to  the  Irish  people,  and  not  less  to  the  tax- 
payers of  the  United  Kingdom,  that  they  should 
be  given  some  explanation  of  the  vicissitudes 
through  which  this  particular  Stock  has  passed, 
and  the  reasons  which  have  really  led  to  the 
delay  in  the  working  of  the  Act  ?  On  the  one 
hand,  it  is  repeatedly  stated  that  the  Land  Act 
cannot  be  worked  more  quickly,  owing  to  want  of 
funds;  yet  it  appears  that  on  February  26th  last, 
whereas  cash  amounting  to  over  eleven  and 
a  half  millions  had  been  raised  by  the  issue  of 
Stock,  the  Commissioners  at  that  date  had  paid 
over  only  eight  and  a  half  millions.  The 
deplorable  fact  is  that  this  sum  of  eleven  and 
a  half  millions  was  obtained  at  a  loss  of  over 
one  and  a  half  million  sterling,  the  issue  price 
ranging  from  £92  to  £87.  From  the  Land  Act 
itself  it  appears  that  this  Stock  enjoys  a 
security  equal  to  that  of  Consols,  in  that,  under 
section  29,  it  is  laid  down  that  "  the  dividends 


LAND    PURCHASE    DIFFICULTIES.  7! 

on  the  Stock  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  income  of 
the  Irish  Land  Purchase  Fund,  and,  if  that 
income  is  insufficient,  shall  be  charged  on  and 
paid  out  of  the  Consolidated  Fund  of  the 
United  Kingdom  or  the  growing  produce  thereof." 
Consequently  the  Stock  is  issued  on  the 
same  security  as  Consols,  but  returns  to  the 
investor  five  shillings  per  cent,  more  interest. 
In  spite  of  this  equality  of  security  and 
advantage  in  rate  of  interest,  this  Stock,  raised 
for  the  purposes  of  the  Land  Purchase  Act,  is 
to-day  quoted  on  the  Stock  Exchange  within  a 
fraction  of  the  same  price  as  Consols,  and 
Ireland  is  poorer  to-day,  including  the  latest 
issue  of  stock,  to  the  extent  of  over  two 
millions  sterling.  Under  the  Land  Act  this  loss 
apparently  falls,  not  upon  the  people  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  but  upon  the  Irish  Develop- 
ment Grant.  Surely,  if  the  security  upon  which 
the  stock  rests  had  been  adequately  explained 
at  the  time  of  its  issue,  there  is  no  reason  why 
this  colossal  loss,  which  on  the  last  issue 
amounted  to  as  much  as  n  per  cent.,  should 
not  have  been  almost  entirely  avoided.  In  the 
Act  the  Stock  was  officially  described  as 
"  Guaranteed  Two  and  Three-quarters  per 
Cent.  Stock,"  but  it  has  become  known  as 
"Irish  Land  Stock."  By  what  ill  fate  has 
Ireland's  unhappy  condition  become  associated 
with  a  security  the  value  of  which  depends  in 


72  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

no  way  on  Ireland's  prosperity,  but  enjoys  the 
same  security  as  Consols  while  returning  an 
appreciably  higher  rate  of  interest  to  the 
investor  ?  This  is  a  matter  which  deserves 
careful  inquiry,  in  order  that  steps  may  be  taken 
to  determine  this  ruinous  mode  of  financing  the 
Land  Act.  If,  instead  of  creating  "  Guaranteed 
Stock  at  2f  per  cent.,"  the  Government  had 
provided  the  money  required  by  issuing  Consols, 
a  large  part  of  the  loss  to  which  I  have  called 
attention  would  have  been  saved.  By  the  time 
the  operation  of  the  Land  Act  is  completed, 
certainly  not  less  than  120  millions  sterling  will 
have  to  be  obtained  from  the  money  market, 
and,  at  the  present  rate,  an  unnecessary  loss  of 
upwards  of  12  millions  sterling  will  be  incurred. 
As  the  market  price  of  Consols  is  now  just  under 
£90,  the  Guaranteed  Stock,  issued  under  the 
Land  Act,  and  carrying  55.  per  cent,  higher 
interest  with  the  same  security,  should  stand  at 
about  £100.  Surely  it  is  time  the  Government 
glanced  round  to  see  whether  the  continuance 
of  this  drain  upon  the  Irish  funds  cannot  be 
avoided. 

Evidence  is  accumulating  to  show  that,  from 
first  to  last,  the  administration  of  this  great  Act 
of  social  amelioration  has  been  greatly  and 
unnecessarily  retarded,  and  the  sympathies  of 
the  Irish  people  in  a  large  measure  alienated, 
owing  to  the  manner  in  which  the  Act  is  being 


LAND    PURCHASE   DIFFICULTIES.  73 

carried  out ;  and  I  appeal  for  a  full  and 
complete  statement  which  will  set  at  rest  the 
anxiety  which  is  naturally  felt  as  month 
succeeds  month  and  apparently  little  progress 
is  made.  In  particular  I  would  appeal  to  the 
Government  to  state  whether  the  loss  incurred 
in  floating  the  Stock  has  been  in  their  opinion 
unavoidable,  and  if  so,  why  ?  and  whether  the 
delay  in  working  the  Act  is  due  to  legal 
difficulties,  which  Irish  solicitors  deny,  to  lack 
of  staff  under  the  Commissioners,  which  the 
Government  have  repeatedly  promised  to  in- 
crease, or  to  inadequate  funds,  as  has  been 
frequently  and,  as  it  seems,  quite  inaccurately 
represented.  In  fact,  what  is  the  root-cause  of 
the  delay  ? 


74         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

IRELAND'S  INDUSTRIAL  FUTURE. 

ARGUMENTS  as  to  future  manufacturing  de- 
velopment, founded  on  the  proof  of  national 
capacity  in  the  past,  to  which  I  have  already 
alluded,  and  on  the  fact  that  all  Ireland's 
great  industries  were  purposely  destroyed,  might 
lead  to  false  deductions  if  the  vast  change  in 
processes  of  manufacture  and  in  trading  facili- 
ties, caused  by  the  introduction  of  steam,  are 
not  taken  fully  into  account.  Comparing  Great 
Britain  with  Ireland,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  great  revolution  brought  about  by  steam- 
power  and  machinery,  both  in  the  processes  of 
manufacture,  and  in  carrying  raw  material  and 
finished  goods,  acted  favourably  for  the  former, 
and  unfavourably  for  the  latter,  country.  In 
comparison  with  Great  Britain,  Ireland  has  but 
little  of  the  best  quality  of  raw  material— coal ; 
and  in  Great  Britain  the  coal  is  in  close  proxi- 
mity to  other  minerals.  Cheap  and  rapid  ocean 
freights  tend  to  obliterate  the  advantages 
possessed  by  Ireland  in  the  geographical  position 


IRELAND'S  INDUSTRIAL  FUTURE.  75 

of   her   harbours.     It    is    an   interesting   theme 
for   speculation  whether  Ireland,  had  she  been 
equipped  as  Great  Britain  was,  with  flourishing 
industries  and  capital,  could  have  availed  herself 
of  steam  and  machinery  as  England  did.     Not- 
withstanding    the    proclivities    of     the     people 
towards   almost   every   form    of   industry   other 
than    agriculture,    it   is    safe   to    say   that    the 
tendency  of  the  new  motive-power  must   have 
been  towards  forcing  Ireland  into  the   position 
of  a  country  largely  dependent  on  agriculture  ; 
but,   on   the   other   hand,  industrial   habits   are 
hard  to  uproot,  labour  and  capital  thrown  out  of 
one   manufacturing  industry  seek  for,  and  may 
find,  employment  in  some   other  industry  of   a 
similar  kind.     Had  not  the  greater  industries  of 
the  country  been   so  ruthlessly  interfered  with, 
there    is    little    doubt    that    the    influence    of 
steam-power  and  machinery  upon  the  industrial 
population   would  have  been  greatly  mitigated. 
Even    if    the    great    industries    went    under,    a 
transference  of  labour  would  have  taken  place. 
Ireland  would   have    retained    a   more   or   less 
considerable   business    in   small   trades,  and   in 
industries  of  a  minor  kind.     That  Ireland  could 
not  have    become    the   home   of   a  vast  manu- 
facturing community  is,  I  think,  true,  and  due  to 
natural   causes,  nor  do   I  regret  it.     That   she 
has  become,  for  all  practical  purposes,  a  purely 
agricultural  community  is  due  to  the  destructive 


7§  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

policy  pursued  by  England  in  the  past.  No 
reason  exists  why  a  considerable  revival  of 
industries  other  than  those  of  an  agricultural 
character  should  not  be  brought  about. 

One  other  matter  must  be  taken  cognisance  of, 
namely,  the  effect  upon  a  people  of  persistent 
interference  with  their  natural  development. 
The  free  development  and  progress  of  a  people 
cannot  be  arrested  with  impunity ;  national 
growth  cannot  be  stunted,  nor  national  energies 
forced  into  false  channels,  without  damaging 
national  character.  Ireland  has  lost  some  of  her 
natural  industrial  instinct.  She  must  be  helped 
to  recover  it.  She  has  suffered  grievously  through 
legislation,  with  the  inevitable  consequence  that 
she  looks  too  much  to  legislation  as  a  remedy 
for  present  evils  resulting  from  legislation  in  the 
past.  She  must  learn  that  legislation  alone  is 
insufficient  as  a  remedy.  Ireland  has  lost  some 
of  her  natural  self-reliance,  business  capacity, 
and  initiative.  She  must,  by  the  exercise  of 
responsibility,  regain  them.  Ireland  has  become 
suspicious,  and  co-operation  is  difficult  to  her. 
She  must  overcome  the  difficulty.  I  do  not  say 
that  Ireland  is  not  entitled  to  what  may  be  termed 
artificial  aid  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  necessary  for 
her  recovery.  She  has  been  free  from  all  local 
legislative  restrictions  on  trade  and  industry  for 
the  best  part  of  a  century;  but  she  started  in  the 
race  as  a  cripple,  not  crippled  owing  to  any 


IRELAND'S  INDUSTRIAL  FUTURE.  77 

organic  defect,  but  artificially  crippled  by  legis- 
lative interference  with  the  free  use  of  her  limbs. 
She  is  entitled  to  exceptional  treatment — and 
she  does  require  assistance.  But  she  will  be 
unwise  to  look  solely  to  that.  The  exercise  of 
her  limbs  is  the  best  part  of  the  treatment,  and 
that  she  can  only  do  for  herself.  Much  can  be 
done,  and  can  only  be  done,  towards  the  solution 
of  some  of  her  economic  problems  by  the  judicious 
and  liberal  application  of  money ;  but  the  core 
of  the  question  of  genuine  healthy  improvement 
in  her  economic  condition  is  the  application 
to  her  principal  industry  of  mutual  help,  co- 
operation, and  the  employment  of  up-to-date 
methods. 

What  is,  then,  the  condition  of  things  ?  My 
conception  of  it  is  this  :  A  country  not  naturally 
adapted  to  great  manufacturing  industries,  but 
possessed  of  good  water-power  and  of  some  coal ; 
a  country  extremely  well  adapted  to  agricultural 
industries  of  all  kinds,  but  containing  a  large 
number  of  uneconomic  holdings  ;  a  country  poor 
in  this  world's  goods,  not  without  resources,  but 
greatly  needing  capital  for  their  development ;  a 
people  endowed  with  great  natural  capacity  for 
industrial  manufacturing  pursuits,  especially  of  an 
artistic  character,  but  forced  to  depend  upon 
agriculture  through  a  lack  of  other  industrial 
occupations,  and,  as  far  as  agriculture  is  con- 
cerned, engaged  largely  in  a  speculative  branch 


78  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND.  . 

of  it  i1  a  people  heavily  handicapped  in  respect 
of  agriculture  by  the  weight  of  dear,  slow,  and 
inadequate  means  of  transit;  crushed  in  the 
poorer  districts  under  the  load  of  local  rates, 
feeling  the  burden  of  indirect  taxation  more 
acutely  than  any  of  the  other  units  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  England,  Scotland,  or  Wales ; 
a  people  suffering  under,  but  recovering  from, 
the  enervating  effects  of  past  legislative  restric- 
tions upon  their  natural  development.  Such  is 
my  conception,  and  I  believe  a  true  one,  of 
the  existing  social,  political,  and  economic 
phenomena  with  which  it  is  necessary  for  the 
salvation  of  Ireland  wisely  to  deal. 

Though  Ireland  is  essentially  an  agricultural 
country,  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not 
develop  many  industries,  and  place  them  on  a 
footing  which  would  enable  their  products  to 
compete  in  the  world's  markets.  Not  only 
in  the  North,  but  throughout  Ireland,  there 
are  to-day  a  number  of  struggling  industries 
upon  which  technical  education  would  have  an 
energizing  influence.  According  to  evidence 
which  Mr.  Arnold  Graves  gave  before  the  last 
Royal  Commission  on  University  Education, 


1  If  at  any  moment  the  British  markets  are  re-opened  to 
Argentina  and  Canadian  cattle,  the  cattle  trade,  which  has 
prospered  owing  to  the  restricted  freedom  of  the  English 
markets,  must  be  crippled,  with  disastrous  results. 


IRELAND  S    INDUSTRIAL    FUTURE. 


79 


the    following    trades    would    benefit    by    the 
extension   of  technical   education : — 


Number 

Number 

TRADE. 

following 

TRADE. 

following 

Trade. 

Trade. 

Linen  Manufacturers 

88,503 

Bookbinders 

1,853 

Woollen  Trade 

.. 

5,338 

Weavers 

1,823 

Cotton  Trade 

2,331 

Ship  Carpenters 

. 

1,430 

Carpenters 

.. 

23,668 

Miners 

1,382 

Boot-makers 

n 

21,353 

Brewers 

1,367 

Tailors 

.. 

16,113 

Plasterers 

, 

1,872 

Blacksmiths 

.. 

13,569 

Maltsters  and  Distiller. 

1,031 

Fishermen 

.. 

11,278 

Braziers 

. 

700 

Bakers 

.. 

8,931 

Basket-makers 

667 

Masons 

.. 

7,058 

Wood  Turners 

,.. 

625 

Painters,  Glazie 
Printers 

3 

6,065 
4,366 

Lithographers 
Jewellers 

59f 
406 

Coopers 
Ship-  and  Boat- 

Builders 

4,253 
2,587 

Glass  Manufacturers 
Silk  Weavers... 

- 

358 
369 

Stone-dressers 

2,556 

Paper-makers 

213 

Bricklayers 

3,380 

Sail-makers    ... 

I84 

Cabinet-makers 

2,096 

Coppersmiths 

159 

Plumbers 

.. 

2,140 

Wood-carvers 

59 

Coach-makers 

1,989 

Soap-makers  ... 

69 

Tin-workers 

1,925 

Apart  from  these  trades,  it  may  be  recalled 
that  Ireland  possesses  fields  of  coal  of  good 
commercial  quality,  and  great  potentialities  in 
its  water-power,  and  thousands  of  miles  of  peat 
land,  which  could  be  turned  to  commercial 
advantage  by  the  fairy  hands  of  science. 

If  by  some  means  a  revival  in  the  home  milling 
industry  were  brought  about,  agriculture  and  the 
country  generally  would  undoubtedly  benefit. 
Milling  means  the  employment  of  labour  at 
home.  It  also  means  offal,  and  offal  means 
cheap  feed,  and  cheap  feed  means  cheap  ferti- 
lizers. The  by-products  of  milling  are  valuable 


80         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

for  feeding  pigs  and  for  winter  dairying.  The 
importance  of  winter  dairying  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. Customers  want  butter,  not  only  in 
summer,  but  all  the  year  round  ;  the  demand  is 
constant,  and  if  it  cannot  be  satisfied  by  Ireland, 
customers  will  deal  with  Denmark  or  some  other 
dependable  source  of  supply.  Winter  dairying 
involves  growing  a  part,  at  all  events,  of  the 
winter's  food  ;  and  this  involves  the  employment 
of  labour.  Dairying,  properly  conducted — the 
constant  supply,  summer  and  winter,  of  dairy 
produce — is  a  more  stable,  reliable  form  of  agri- 
cultural industry,  is  a  safer  investment,  in  fact, 
than  the  more  precarious  branch  of  cattle- 
breeding. 

Ireland  was,  in  the  past,  pre-eminent  in  the 
provision  trade,  and  this  pre-eminence  was  due 
largely  to  natural  causes  which  still  operate. 
No  reason  exists,  except  one  to  be  hereafter 
mentioned,  why  a  considerable  development  of 
that  trade  may  not  be  expected.  The  dairying 
and  bacon  trades,  and  the  trade  in  poultry  and 
eggs,  should  be  far  more  prosperous  than  they 
are;  and  other  small  industries — adjuncts  of 
agriculture — are  capable  of  expansion.  Certain 
districts  in  Ireland  will  produce  almost  anything 
that  can  be  grown  from  here  to  Madeira.  If  it 
is  possible,  as  it  certainly  is,  to  send  early  vege- 
tables and  flowers  from  the  South  of  France  and 
North  of  Africa,  eggs  from  Russia,  and  butter 


IRELAND'S  INDUSTRIAL  FUTURE.  81 

from  Siberia,  to  London,  it  may  surely  be  pos- 
sible to  do  a  profitable  trade  in  such  articles 
produced  in  the  South-west  of  Ireland,  if  cheap, 
rapid,  and  reliable  transit  is  provided.  Agri- 
culture is  at  present  terribly  handicapped  by 
want  of  means  of  communication,  uncertain 
transport,  and  heavy  charges  for  freight. 

As  compared  with  agriculture  elsewhere,  agri- 
culture in  Ireland  always  has  possessed,  and 
does  still  possess,  certain  advantages.  Soil  and 
climate  are  suitable.  No  portion  of  the  United 
Kingdom  is  better  adapted  for  meat  and  milk 
production.  With  the  exception  of  potatoes  and 
mangolds — and  I  do  not  know  why  those  excep- 
tions exist — the  yield  of  crops  per  acre  is  larger 
in  Ireland  than  in  Great  Britain.  The  standard 
of  living  is  lower  ;  it  has  risen,  is  rising,  and  will, 
I  should  hope,  continue  to  rise,  but  nevertheless, 
it  is  a  present  fact  which  must  not  be  lost  sight 
of.  Labour  is  comparatively  cheap  ;  and  the 
cost  of  living  comparatively  small.  With  these 
natural  advantages,  the  prospects  of  agriculture 
are  good,  but  it  has  many  disadvantages  to 
struggle  against ;  and,  lest  too  optimistic  a  view 
of  the  regenerating  power  of  land-purchase 
should  be  entertained,  these  disadvantages  must 
be  briefly  glanced  at. 

The  substitution  of  a  sound  for  an  unsound 
system  of  tenure  offers  an  opportunity.  The 
extent  to  which  the  possibilities  latent  in  that 

G 


82  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

opportunity  are  realized  depends  largely  upon 
the  spirit  applied  towards  it.  In  all  countries, 
but  to  an  abnormal  extent  in  Ireland,  social 
conditions  govern  economic  development;  and 
it  is  obvious  that  a  favourable  forecast  of 
development  presupposes  social  conditions  of  a 
favourable  character.  The  spirit  of  the  Land 
Conference  applied  to  the  various  problems 
seeking  solution  is  necessary  to  secure  the  full 
fruition  of  the  first  practical  result  of  that  spirit — 
the  Land  Act  of  1903. 

Out  of  some  500,000  holdings,  200,000  must 
be  described  as  uneconomic,  incapable  per  se  of 
properly  maintaining  a  family.  Uneconomic 
holdings  may  be  unobjectionable — in  fact,  they 
are  unobjectionable  in  cases  where  agricultural 
economic  deficiencies  are  made  good  by  the 
proceeds  of  some  other  assured  industries ;  but 
the  fact  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  holdings  are 
absolutely  uneconomic  has  an  important  bearing 
upon  the  present  state  and  future  prospects  of 
agriculture.  The  occupiers  of  those  holdings 
will,  doubtless,  purchase.  In  order  to  maintain 
themselves,  and  to  become  a  source  of  strength 
instead  of  weakness  to  the  social  structure, 
economic  deficiency  must  be  balanced  either 
by  accretion  or  addition.  These  little  barren 
holdings  must  be  converted  into  moderate-sized 
farms  by  the  addition  of  good  land,  or  the  occu- 
piers must  be  provided  with  means  of  augmenting 


IRELAND'S  INDUSTRIAL  FUTURE.  83 

the  insufficient  living  derived  from  the  soil.  The 
Congested  Districts  Board  is  occupied  in  the 
former  process,  and  with  good  results,  though 
the  process  is  lamentably  slow.  The  principle 
is  sound,  but  alone  it  cannot  suffice.  The 
supply  of  good  land  is  limited.  It  is  impossible 
to  convert  all  these  uneconomic  holdings  into 
farms  of  an  economic  character.  Many  of  these 
small  freeholders  can  become  a  valuable  asset  to 
the  country  only  if  to  subsistence  derived  from 
the  land  subsistence  derived  from  some  other 
source  can  be  added,  and  that  source  must 
spring  at  home  and  be  constant.  The  further 
development  of  sea  fisheries  in  suitable  localities, 
and  the  creation  or  encouragement  of  cottage 
industries,  are  essential. 

The  economic  holdings  may  be  divided  into 
dairying  and  cattle-breeding,  and  the  latter  pre- 
dominate. A  large  proportion  of  the  capital 
employed  and  of  the  people  employed  in  agricul- 
ture are  engaged  in  a  speculative  form  of  that 
industry.  Cattle-raising  is  a  speculation  rather 
than  an  investment — a  species  of  gambling,  and, 
like  all  gambling,  attended  with  risk. 

Cheap,  rapid,  and  reliable  means  of  transit  are 
essential  to  any  great  advance  in  agriculture  ;  and 
in  this  essential  Ireland  is  deficient.  Freights 
for  produce  are  very  high,  far  higher  than  in 
England ;  and  the  facilities  for  the  punctual 
delivery  of  small  parcels  of  perishable  goods 


84  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

through  the  Post  Office  are  defective.  Means 
of  communication  should  subserve  the  require- 
ments of  the  community ;  and  profit  should  be 
sought  indirectly  in  future  general  prosperity 
rather  than  directly  in  immediate  interest  on 
capital  employed.  The  question  of  State  pur- 
chase, or  State  subsidies,  or  State  guarantees, 
is  not  one  to  be  profitably  discussed  here  ;  nor 
can  I  now  consider  whether  relief  could  be 
afforded,  and,  if  so,  to  what  extent,  by  superior 
organization  and  administration.  Railway  com- 
panies are  not  charitable  institutions  ;  money  will 
not  be  expended  on  a  carrying  trade  without  the 
prospect  of  profit  derived  from  carrying  produce  ; 
but  neither  will  money  be  laid  out  on  pro- 
duction as  long  as  profit  is  rendered  impossible 
through  the  imposition  of  excessive  freights. 
High  freights  discourage  agriculture.  Old- 
fashioned  methods  in  agriculture  encourage 
high  freights.  Manual  labour  is  an  expensive 
item.  If  railway  companies  would  do  their 
utmost  to  assist  farmers,  and  if  farmers  would 
do  their  utmost  to  assist  railway  companies  by 
bulking  their  produce,  and  thereby  cheapening 
the  process  of  handling  goods,  something  might 
be  done  to  ease  the  disabilities  under  which 
producers  now  labour  ;  but  more  energetic 
measures  will  be  found  necessary.  The  demand 
of  goods  for  transportation  develops  means  of 
transportation ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the 


IRELAND'S  INDUSTRIAL  FUTURE.  85 

existence  of  means  of  transportation  develops 
production,  and  must,  in  the  case  of  Ireland, 
precede  it.  This  subject  is  too  large  to  be 
gone  into  here.  It  has  been  examined  and 
reported  upon  in  a  pamphlet  published  by  the 
Irish  Reform  Association,  and  a  Royal  Com- 
mission is  engaged  in  a  thorough  investigation 
of  it. 

The  inefficiency  of  the  Post  Office,  evidenced 
by  the  delays  in  delivery  of  small  quantities  of 
perishable  articles  by  parcels  post,  is  distinctly 
an  affair  of  State.  The  profitable  growth  of 
flowers,  and,  perhaps,  early  vegetables,  depends 
upon  punctual  delivery.  It  may  seem  a  small 
trade ;  but  no  industry  is,  under  the  present 
circumstances  of  Ireland,  insignificant ;  and  it  is 
the  duty  of  a  State  Department  to  see  that  it  is 
not  discouraged  by  neglect. 

The  weight  of  local  rates  and  the  want  of 
cheaper  means  of  transportation  act  as  a  drag 
upon  the  wheels  of  progress  ;  and  the  system  of 
taxation  presses  heavily  upon  Ireland.1  Indirect 
taxation  is  always  onerous  on  the  poor.  The 
balance  as  between  classes  may  be  fairly  enough 
adjusted  over  England  and  Scotland ;  but  the 
poor  feel  indirect  taxation  far  more  acutely  than 

1  In  Great  Britain  the  proportionate  burden  of  direct  and 
indirect  taxation  is  always  balanced  fairly  evenly ;  but  in  Ireland 
7i'2  per  cent,  (figures  for  1906-7)  of  tax  revenue  is  raised 
indirectly.  (See  Appendix  II.) 


86         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

the  rich,  and  Ireland  feels  it  more  than  Great 
Britain,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  poor  in 
Ireland  are  poorer  than  the  poor  in  Great 
Britain,  and  the  proportion  of  the  poor  to  the 
well-to-do  is  greater  in  Ireland  than  in  Great 
Britain. 

Such  great  questions  as  the  main  drainage 
of  the  country  and  the  condition  of  her  harbours 
cannot  be  entered  upon  now;  and  I  have  only 
touched  upon  means  of  communication  and 
transportation.  To  enable  private  and  co- 
operative effort  to  exercise  the  best  results,  large 
and  comprehensive  views  upon  the  profitable 
employment  of  public  funds  are  desirable.  There 
is  much  that  private  enterprise  cannot  accom- 
plish ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  much 
that  private  enterprise  alone  can  do.  So  far  as 
agriculture  is  concerned,  the  great  essentials 
consist  in  the  application  of  modern  methods  to 
production,  and  in  a  plentiful  supply  of  private 
capital.  If  agriculture — the  foundation  of  pros- 
perity— is  to  thrive,  agriculture  must  keep  abreast 
of  the  times.  But  agriculture  requires  capital. 
Supply  of  capital  depends  upon  security  both  of 
a  material  and  moral  nature.  As  regards  the 
former,  whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  terms 
upon  which  land  is  changing  hands,  the  general 
result,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  that  the  late 
occupier  obtains  a  better  property  and  pays  less 
for  it.  The  value  of  his  security  is  enhanced. 


IRELAND'S  INDUSTRIAL  FUTURE.  87 

In  respect  of  the  latter,  that  lies  largely  at  the 
discretion  of  the  people.  If  industrial  and 
commercial  activity  fs  not  interfered  with, 
if  private  enterprise  is  free  to  work  in  an  atmo- 
sphere serene  and  undisturbed  by  social  and 
other  storms,  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  capital 
will,  perhaps  slowly,  but  surely,  flow  towards 
fields  for  profitable  employment. 

Undoubtedly  a  large  amount  of  capital  will  be 
set  free  under  the  operation  of  the  Land  Act.  It 
is  true  that  the  majority  of  estates  are  entailed  ; 
but,  as  the  perpetuation  of  property  in  land  is 
the  main  object  of  entail,  it  is  probable  that, 
with  that  incentive  removed,  the  tendency  will 
be  to  allow  entails  to  lapse.  In  addition  to  the 
ordinary  floating  capital,  finding  investment 
mainly  through  the  medium  of  Joint  Stock 
Banks,  a  certain  amount  of  cash  must  be  already 
available  through  the  operations  of  the  Land 
Purchase  Act,  and  much  more  will  become 
available  in  the  future.  The  creation  and 
encouragement  of  commercial  and  industrial 
enterprise  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  offer  a  suitable 
field  for  profitable  and,  at  the  same  time, 
patriotic  investment ;  for  Ireland  cannot  live 
upon  agriculture  alone. 

The  resuscitation  or  re-creation  of  manufac- 
turing industries,  perhaps  not  on  the  largest 
scale,  but  on  a  larger  scale  than  is  contemplated 


88          THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

under  the  term  "cottage  industries,"  is  necessary 
to  check,  in  some  degree,  the  stream  of  emigra- 
tion which  runs  with  unhealthy  and  unnatural 
velocity  from  our  shores.  Profitable  investment 
for  capital  and  labour,  other  than  in  land,  is  the 
only  sufficient  cure. 


IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS.  89 


CHAPTER  V. 

IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS.1 

FROM  debates  which  have  taken  place  from  time 
to  time  in  the  House  of  Commons  upon  the 
financial  relations  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
it  might  be  supposed  that  Ireland  was  most 
generously  treated  in  matters  of  finance.  True, 
Mr.  Austen  Chamberlain,  when  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer,  did  admit  that  the  Royal  Com- 
mission, which  investigated  this  subject  about 
ten  years  ago,  reported,  practically  unanimously, 
that  the  taxable  capacity  of  Ireland  was  not  to 
be  estimated  as  being  more  than  in  the  propor- 
tion of  one  to  twenty  of  that  of  Great  Britain ; 
but  he  proceeded  to  say  that  the  actual  con- 
tribution of  Ireland  towards  Imperial  purposes 
was  only  in  the  proportion  of  one  to  forty-five  ; 
and  the  cheers  with  which  this  comparative 
statement  was  received  would  seem  to  indicate 
that  he  was  considered  to  have  effectually  and 
satisfactorily  disposed  of  the  question.  But 
what  has  the  quota  contributed  by  Ireland 


1  Reprinted  with  corrections,  by  permission  of  the  Editor, 
from  The  Nineteenth  Century  of  July,  1905. 


go  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

towards  Imperial  expenditure  to  do  with  the 
question  whether  the  ever-increasing  load  of 
taxation  under  which  her  aching  shoulders  are 
giving  way  is  or  is  not  too  heavy  for  her  to 
bear  ?  Nothing  whatever.  The  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer's  simple  sum  has  really  no  bear- 
ing upon  the  contention  that  a  larger  amount 
in  taxation  is  taken  out  of  Ireland  than  she 
can  afford  to  pay ;  that  the  contributions  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  are  not  in  proportion 
to  the  relative  capacity  and  resources  of  the  two 
communities  ;  and  that  the  spirit  of  the  Act  of 
Union,  and  the  very  letter  of  the  arguments 
recommending  it,  have  been  broken  thereby. 

One  of  the  difficulties  met  with  in  attempting 
to  open  the  eyes  of  the  public  to  the  fact  that 
Ireland  is  overtaxed  lies  in  the  argument  that, 
Ireland  being  an  indistinguishable  portion  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  the  basis  of  inquiry  by  the 
Royal  Commission  on  Financial  Relations, 
namely,  that  Ireland  must  be  looked  upon,  for 
the  purposes  of  inquiry,  as  a  separate  entity,  is 
false,  and  the  findings  of  the  Commissioners 
worthless.  Such  a  contention  is  merely  burking 
the  whole  question ;  for  if  it  be  desirable  to 
ascertain  whether  the  poverty,  lack  of  industrial 
pursuits,  and  general  backwardness  of  one 
portion  of  the  United  Kingdom  are  due  to  the 
inability  of  the  people  inhabiting  it  to  bear  the 
weight  of  taxation  imposed  upon  them,  it  is 


IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS.  91 

obviously  necessary,  for  the  purposes  of  com- 
parison, to  deal  with  that  portion  as  a  separate 
entity.  By  no  other  means  can  any  comparison 
possibly  be  made.  But  if  Ireland  is  not  to  be 
deemed  an  entity,  then  the  same  problem  merely 
presents  itself  in  another  and  somewhat  more 
complicated  shape  ;  for,  in  that  case,  it  is  certain 
that  the  system  of  taxation  adopted  throughout 
the  United  Kingdom  presses  disproportionately 
upon  the  poorer  classes  of  the  community  ;  and 
as  the  proportion  of  poor  to  well-to-do  is  far 
larger  in  Ireland  than  in  Great  Britain,  it  presses 
with  extremely  disproportionate  severity  upon 
the  inhabitants  of  the  former  island.  It  really 
matters  nothing  to  the  people  of  Ireland  which 
theory  is  adopted,  so  far  as  the  fact  of  their 
suffering  is  concerned,  though  perhaps  the 
remedy  to  be  applied  in  the  one  case  may  differ 
somewhat  from  the  remedy  which  would  be 
most  suitable  in  the  other. 

Another  argument  brought  forward  against 
the  conclusions  of  the  Royal  Commission  is 
that,  although  taxation  has  greatly  increased  and 
population  has  greatly  diminished  in  Ireland, 
the  existing  smaller  population  is  as  well,  or 
better,  able  to  bear  the  existing  higher  taxation 
than  the  former  larger  population  was  able  to 
bear  the  former  lower  taxation ;  in  other  words, 
that  the  taxable  capacity  of  the  individual  has 
enormously  increased.  This  theory  is  scarcely 


92         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

worthy  of  notice.  Since  1820,  taxation  has 
increased  from  £5,256,584  to  £9,477,000  a  year, 
or  about  83  per  cent.  During  the  same  period 
population  has  diminished  from  6,801,827  to 
4,414,995,  or  35  per  cent.  If  the  pressure  of 
present  taxation  is  no  heavier  upon  the  existing 
population  than  was  the  pressure  of  taxation 
in  1820  upon  the  population  then  existing,  we 
must  assume  that  the  taxable  capacity  of  the 
individual  has  increased  by  over  170  per  cent. — 
a  proposition  which  no  sane  man  will  accept. 
Even  since  1890  taxation  has  increased  by  25*09 
per  cent.,  while  population  has  fallen  by  6*56 
per  cent. 

That  the  case  of  Ireland  is  quite  peculiar 
must  be  admitted.  The  taxable  capacity  of  her 
inhabitants  constitutes  quite  a  different  question 
from  the  taxable  capacity  of  submerged  popula- 
tions in  our  great  cities,  or  of  the  twelve  millions 
who  are,  according  to  Sir  Henry  Campbell 
Bannerman,  chronically  on  the  verge  of  starva- 
tion. We  must  in  common  justice  go  back  to 
the  origin  of  the  existing  condition  of  things. 
The  Act  of  Union,  and  the  conditions  expressed 
or  implied  in  it,  must  be  considered.  The  Union 
was  a  contract — a  bargain — between  two  inde- 
pendent Legislatures,  and  it  was  made  subject 
to  certain  conditions.  The  financial  principle 
adopted  in  the  Act  was  that  each  country 
should  contribute  to  Imperial  expenditure  in 


IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS.  93 

proportion  to  capacity  and  resources.  Through- 
out the  debates  it  was  repeatedly  affirmed  that 
Ireland  should  receive  exceptional  treatment 
until  such  time  as,  by  the  reduction  of  the 
National  Debt  of  Great  Britain  and  other 
changes,  the  two  countries  should  reach  a 
condition  of  parity.1  Lord  Castlereagh  stated 
that  "as  to  the  future  it  is  expected  that  the 
two  countries  should  move  forward  and  unite 
with  regard  to  their  expenses  in  the  measure  of 
their  relative  abilities."  No  one  can  read  the 
debates  on  the  Act  of  Union  without  realizing 
that  the  essential  principle  was  that  taxation 
should  be  in  accordance  with  the  relative 
capacities  of  the  two  countries  to  bear  the 
burden.  That  taxation  is  not  in  accordance 
with  the  relative  capacities  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  to  bear  the  burden,  and  that  Ireland  is 
overtaxed  to  her  own  detriment  and  to  the 
detriment  of  Great  Britain  and  the  Empire,  is 
my  contention ;  and  it  is  not,  I  think,  difficult  to 
sustain. 

A  point  too  repeatedly  forgotten  is  that  the 
question  should  be  removed  from  the  stormy 
wrangles  of  opposing  political  parties,  for 
Unionists  and  Nationalists,  Conservatives  and 


1  Ireland  at  this  date  contained  one-third  of  the  population 
of  the  United  Kingdom  ;  now  it  contains  about  one-tenth. 


Q4         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

Radicals  alike  wish  Ireland  to  thrive.  It  is 
essentially  a  matter  of  business  arrangement 
between  Ireland  and  Great  Britain ;  and  any 
political  economist,  to  whatever  school  he  may 
belong,  will  agree  that  if  the  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment is  taking  more  in  taxation  from  Ireland 
than  she  can  legitimately  afford  to  pay,  injury  is 
being  done  not  only  to  Ireland,  but  indirectly  to 
Great  Britain,  in  so  far  as  over-taxation  limits 
industrial  development,  and  thus  perpetuates 
and  aggravates  the  distressing  tendencies  in 
the  condition  of  Ireland,  to  which  attention  is 
directed  elsewhere  in  these  pages. 

The  poverty  of  Ireland  is  the  great  factor  in 
the  case  which  demands  the  serious  considera- 
tion of  statesmen  and  of  the  whole  British 
people,  who  since  the  Union  are  responsible  for 
her.  Unfortunately  it  has  been  obscured  by  the 
somewhat  confused  findings  of  the  Royal  Com- 
mission on  Financial  Relations  which  reported 
ten  years  ago  ;  and  it  may  be  well  to 
endeavour  to  assess  the  relative  wealth  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  without  much  reference  to 
those  reports,  bearing  in  mind,  however,  that 
the  Commissioners  agreed  that,  as  compared 
with  Great  Britain,  Ireland  was  taxed  far  above 
her  capacity  to  bear  taxation. 

In  commending  the  articles  of  the  Treaty  of 
Union  to  the  Irish  House  of  Commons,  Lord 


IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS.  95 

Castlereagh  admitted  that  "  he  considered  the 
best  possible  criterion  of  the  relative  means  and 
ability  of  two  countries  to  bear  taxation  would 
be  the  produce  of  an  income  tax  levied  on  the 
same  description  of  incomes  in  each,  and  equally 
well  levied  in  both."  This  criterion  was  not 
available  in  1800,  because  Ireland  at  that  time 
did  not  pay  income  tax ;  but  having  been 
admitted  to  that  privilege  by  Mr.  Gladstone  in 
1853,  it  is  available  now.  Owing  to  the  patient 
researches  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  copious 
returns  with  reference  to  the  finances  of  the  two 
countries  which  are  now  issued,  but  which  were 
not  issued  ten  years  ago  when  the  Royal  Com- 
mission sat,  it  is  not  a  difficult  matter  to  compare 
to-day  the  resources  of  the  two  countries.  A 
good  working  estimate  of  the  relative  condition 
of  two  communities  can  be  arrived  at  by  con- 
trasting : — 

(1)  The  net  produce  of  income  tax  ; 

(2)  The    salaries    paid    to    corporation    and 

public  company  officials ; 

(3)  The  relative  populations  ; 

(4)  The  excess  of  births  over  deaths  ; 

(5)  The  wage-earning  capacity  of  the  labouring 

classes. 

(i)  As  a  test  of  the  condition  of  Ireland,  the 
available   statistics   as   to   income   tax   may   be 


96  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

taken.  As  soon  as  this  aspect  of  the  question  is 
approached  objections  are  raised  by  financial 
experts  of  various  schools  as  to  the  difficulty  of 
arriving  by  such  means  at  an  exact  indication  of 
the  taxable  wealth  of  Great  Britain  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Ireland  on  the  other.  That  may  be 
so  in  detail,  but  in  detail  only.  For  the  purpose 
of  comparison  between  the  social  condition  of 
the  two  peoples,  it  is  essential  only  to  give  the 
salient  figures,  and  refer  to  the  general  deduc- 
tions to  be  drawn  from  them.  The  simple  and 
convincing  argument,  surely,  is  that  the  net 
receipt  from  income  tax  may  be  accepted  as  a 
general  indication  of  the  wealth  or  poverty  of 
communities  in  which  the  same  tax  is  levied,  on 
the  same  general  principles,  and  with  the  same 
stringency.  This  applies  to  the  whole  United 
Kingdom,  over  which  the  rate  is  similar;  and 
the  tax  is  levied  by  the  same  executive 
machinery.  If  this  comparison  indicates  that 
one  country  has  a  very  much  larger  income-tax- 
paying  section  than  the  other  country,  and  that 
the  net  payments  per  capita  are  also  larger,  it  may 
surely  be  taken  to  show  that  in  that  country  a 
freer  movement  of  floating  capital,  a  healthier 
condition  of  industry,  and  probably  also  a  higher 
standard  of  comfort  exist.  Some  recent  statistics 
are  contained  in  the  report  of  the  Commissioners 
of  His  Majesty's  Inland  Revenue  for  the  year 


IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS. 


97 


ended  the  3ist  of  March,  1906  ;  and  on  p.  194 
is  a  table  showing  the  net  receipt  of  income  tax 
in  the  three  main  divisions  of  the  United 
Kingdom.  From  this  we  obtain  the  following 
figures  for  the  year  1905-6  : — 


United 
Kingdom. 

England  and 
Wales. 

Scotland. 

Ireland. 

Net  receipt 
Net  produce  of  a  id. 
rate  in  the  £  (about) 

£ 
31,200,000 

2,600,000 

£ 
27,423,061 

2,287,000 

£ 

2,883,330 

240,000 

983,361 
83,600 

It  is  sufficient  to  call  attention  to  this  remark- 
able difference  between  the  net  receipts  in  the 
three  divisions  of  the  United  Kingdom.  The 
absence  of  tax-paying  incomes  in  Ireland  is 
strikingly  revealed  by  the  variation  in  the 
produce  of  each  penny  in  the  pound  in  the  tax 
in  the  year  1905-6,  and  is  further  borne  out  by 
the  calculation  that  Ireland  pays  only  about 
one-thirty-second  of  the  total  produce  of  the 
income  tax  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

Turning  from  the  total  net  receipt  to  the 
figures  given  in  Schedule  D,  we  have  a  further 
striking  illustration  of  the  industrial  condition  of 
the  Irish  people.  Under  this  schedule,  which  is 
the  section  of  commerce  and  industry,  returns 
are  made  of  the  "profits  from  businesses, 
concerns,  professions,  employments,  and  certain 


98 


THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 


interest,"     and     the    following    information     is 
given : — 


United 
Kingdom. 

England  and 
Wales. 

Scotland. 

Ireland. 

Number  of  Assess- 

ments 
Percentages  of  above 

577,524 

481,374 

72,152 

23,998 

totals  ... 

100 

8r« 

I2'49 

4-16 

Net  gross  amount  of 
income  assessed 

£504,567,700  £43^,583.596 

£52,768,680 

£13,215,523 

Percen  tages  of  abovei 

totals  ...             ...           100 

86-92 

10-46 

2-62 

Income    on    which 

tax  was  received   £365,234,308  £3  19.045,872 

£38,208,297 

£7,980,139 

These  figures  show  that  Ireland  has  a  small 
proportion  of  persons,  firms,  and  public  com- 
panies assessable  to  income  tax.  The  actual 
sum  contributed  by  Ireland  in  income  tax  in 
1905-6  was  .£1,085,000,  whereas  Scotland  con- 
tributed £3,121,000,  and  England  ^26,682,000 — 
surely  an  indication  of  the  relative  wealth  of 
the  several  parts  of  the  Kingdom. 

Ireland  pays  about  3*73  per  cent,  of  the  total 
income  tax  of  the  United  Kingdom,  and,  roughly, 
this  may  be  accepted  as  an  index  figure 
indicating  the  relative  wealth  of  the  country. 
When  we  turn  from  direct  taxation  to  the 
statistics  bearing  on  indirect  taxation,  we 
find,  however,  that  the  proportion  is  completely 
changed.  The  latest  Treasury  returns  show  that 
in  the  year  ended  the  3ist  of  March,  1906,  the 


IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS.  99 

"true  revenue"  paid  by  Ireland  amounted  to 
£9,477,000,  while  Great  Britain  contributed 
£139,825,500.  Ireland  contributed  6-33  per  cent, 
of  the  total  revenue  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
whereas  she  contributed  only  3-73  of  the  total 
amount  due  to  the  operation  of  the  income 
tax.  Assuming  that  her  financial  condition  is 
more  or  less  accurately  revealed  by  the  produce 
of  the  income  tax,  Ireland's  true  contribution  to 
the  revenue  of  the  United  Kingdom  should  be 
about  £5,500,000.  She  appears  therefore  to  be 
paying  about  four  millions  sterling  in  taxation 
more  than  she  should  contribute.  This  con- 
clusion does  not  strictly  agree  with  the  finding 
upon  which  the  Royal  Commission  was  "  practi- 
cally unanimous";  but  nearly  ten  years  have 
elapsed  since  the  Report.  The  Commissioners 
found  that  "while  the  actual  taxed  revenue  of 
Ireland  is  about  one-eleventh  of  Great  Britain, 
the  relative  taxable  capacity  of  Ireland  is  very 
much  smaller,  and  is  not  estimated  by  any  of 
us  as  exceeding  one-twentieth"  This  is  the 
practically  unanimous  conclusion  of  the  Com- 
mission ;  but  it  must  be  noticed  that  a  number 
of  its  members  held  that  the  taxable  capacity 
of  Ireland  was  very  much  less.  No  doubt, 
owing  to  the  war,  and  the  taxation  which 
has  been  imposed  since  the  Commission 
reported,  the  burden  of  increased  taxation 
has  been  very  much  more  severe  upon  Ireland 


100 


THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 


than  upon  other  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
because  the  indirect  taxation  imposed  is  felt 
by  the  poorer  classes,  who  form  so  large  a 
proportion  of  the  population,  with  great  severity. 
In  view,  therefore,  of  the  present  heavy  burden 
of  indirect  taxation,  any  unbiassed  investigator 
would  now,  I  think,  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  taxable  capacity  of  Ireland  in  relation  to 
the  present  Budget  arrangements  is  much 
smaller  than  it  was  at  the  time  of  the  Royal 
Commission's  Inquiry  ;  and  probably  he  would 
agree  that  the  proportionate  taxable  capacity  of 
Ireland,  with  her  present  population,  which 
has  fallen,  since  the  Royal  Commission  was 
appointed,  by  over  two  hundred  thousand,  is 
now  about  one-twenty-seventh  of  the  whole  of 
the  United  Kingdom. 

(2)  To  turn  to  the  salaries  of  Corporation  and 
public  company  officials.  The  following  table 
for  the  year  1904-5  will  be  found  instructive  : — 

TABLE  showing  for  each  Part  of  the  United  Kingdom  the 
Number  of  Assessments  and  the  Gross  Income  Assessed  in 
respect  of  Salaries  of  Corporation  and  Public  Company 
Officials. 


England  and 
Wales. 

Scotland. 

Ireland. 

United 
Kingdom. 

Number    of  Assess- 
ments   ... 
Gross  income  assessed 

265,924 
£57,661,275 

30,284 
£6,694,584 

12,128 
£2,693,334 

308,336 
£67,049,193 

101 

It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  the  wealth  of 
Ireland,  as  indicated  by  the  number  of  officials 
in  the  employ  of  municipalities  and  public  com- 
panies, is,  as  compared  with  that  of  Great 
Britain,  very  small. 

(3)  As  to  the  relative  population.    The  decline 
of  the   population   of   Ireland,  which   has  been 
going  on  for  the  past  sixty  years,  has  been  again 
and  again  dinned  into  the  ears  of  the   British 
people ;   but  they  fail  apparently  to  appreciate 
that  the  depression  which  crushes  Ireland  is  still 
driving  out  of  the  country  an  increasing  propor- 
tion of  the  physically  and  mentally  fit.     English 
people  are  apt  to  imagine  that  the  great  flow  of 
emigration    which     occurred    after    the    potato 
famine   has   since   dwindled  down   into  a  com- 
paratively    insignificant     current.      The     exact 
opposite    is    the    case.     In    proportion    to    the 
present  population  of  Ireland,  the  emigration  is 
almost  as  serious  a  social  drain  as  it  has  ever 
been  in  her  history.     The  continuous  decrease 
in  the  population  of  Ireland  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  social  facts  in  the  modern  history  of 
the   world.      The   full   tale   of  national  loss  is 
shown  in  another  chapter. 

(4)  Another  striking  indication  of  the  condi- 
tion of  Ireland  is  supplied  by  the  figures  as  to 
the  excess  of  births  over  deaths.1 


1  See  Appendix  III. 


IO2  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

Statisticians  generally  admit  that  a  good 
indication  of  wholesome  conditions  of  living  in 
a  community  is  furnished  by  a  moderate  birth- 
rate, a  low  death-rate,  and  a  considerable  excess 
of  births  over  deaths.  It  is  held  that  in  a  well- 
favoured  community  marriages  are  deferred 
owing  to  the  saving  habits  of  the  people;  and 
although  the  birth-rate  is  low,  the  infant  mor- 
tality is  very  small.  Sir  Robert  Giffen,  in  the 
evidence  which  he  gave  before  the  Royal  Com- 
mission on  Financial  Relations,  dealt  con- 
vincingly with  this  aspect  of  life  in  Ireland.  He 
said : — 

When  we  take  the  comparison  on  this  head  between  Ireland 
and  the  other  countries  of  the  United  Kingdom,  we  find, 
according  to  the  latest  statistical  abstract,  the  births  in  Ireland 
were  106,000 ;  the  deaths,  83,000 ;  and  the  excess  of  births 
over  deaths,  23,000 ;  giving  a  proportion  per  thousand  of  the 
population  of  the  excess  of  births  over  deaths  of  five  per 
thousand.  In  England  in  the  same  year  the  births  were 
914,000;  the  deaths,  570,000;  the  excess  of  births  over 
deaths,  344,000;  and  the  proportion  of  the  excess  of  births 
over  deaths  per  thousand  of  population  comes  out  at  11-4,  or 
more  than  double  the  corresponding  excess  in  Ireland. 
Similarly  for  Scotland  the  births  in  the  same  year  were  127,000 ; 
the  deaths,  80,000 ;  and  the  excess  of  births  over  deaths, 
47,000  ;  giving  the  proportion  per  thousand  of  the  population 
of  the  excess  of  births  over  deaths  of  11*5,  just  about  the 
same  as  the  proportion  for  England,  and  in  both  cases 
much  more  than  double  the  excess  of  births  over  deaths  in 
Ireland. 

I  should  say  that  the  reason  of  it  is,  as  far  as  one  can  judge, 
not  any  excessive  mortality  in  Ireland,  because  the  deaths, 
you  will  observe,  in  Ireland  are  very  little  more  than  the 


IRELAND  S    FINANCIAL    BURDENS.  IO3 

deaths  in  Scotland  with  a  somewhat  larger  population ;  but  it 
is  a  deficiency  of  births,  and  that  seems  connected  with 
another  characteristic  of  Ireland's  population — that  the  popula- 
tion in  Ireland  appears  on  the  whole  to  be  an  older  population 
than  that  of  either  England  or  Scotland. 

In  Ireland  no  less  than  i8'6  per  cent,  of  the  male  popula- 
tion are  upwards  of  fifty ;  but  in  Scotland  and  England  the 
percentages  are  13*5  and  13*7  respectively.  The  percentage 
in  Ireland  between  twenty  and  forty  (that  is,  of  the  male 
population)  is  26-6  per  cent. ;  and  in  Scotland  and  England 
28-9  and  29-0  respectively.  The  percentages  of  female  popula- 
tion are  much  the  same  as  the  percentages  of  the  male  popula- 
tion. The  conclusion  is,  therefore,  that  Ireland  has  fewer 
people  in  proportion  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  more  above  filty, 
than  Great  Britain  has. 

Sir  Robert  Giffen  pointed  out  that  all  these 
figures,  indicative  of  the  small  excess  of  births 
over  deaths,  and  the  composition  of  the  popula- 
tion, together  with  the  notorious  facts  as  to 
emigration,  corresponded,  and  revealed  the 
same  conclusion — that  the  actual  population  in 
Ireland  is  far  weaker,  man  for  man,  counting 
everybody,  than  the  actual  population  of  either 
England  or  Scotland.  It  would  be  possible  to 
illustrate  in  detail  Sir  Robert  Giffen's  con- 
clusions by  some  recent  statistics  ;  but  it  may 
be  sufficient  to  recall  the  broad  fact,  that, 
while  in  the  intervening  ten  years  the  birth- 
rate has  practically  remained  stationary,  the 
death-rate  and  emigration-rate  only  decreased 
to  a  very  slight  extent ;  and  the  relative 
proportion  between  birth,  death,  and  emigration 
rates  to  which  Sir  Robert  Giffen  called  attention 


104  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

remained  almost  the  same.  Ireland's  birth-rate 
is  now  almost  the  lowest  in  the  world.  The 
excess  of  births  over  deaths  per  thousand  for  the 
estimated  population  in  1905  amounted  to  6*3, 
while  the  ratio  of  emigrants  was  7^0  per  thousand ; 
in  other  words,  the  proportion  of  emigrants  who 
left  the  country  in  1905,  as  for  any  of  the  pre- 
vious ten  years,  was  considerably  greater  than 
the  excess  of  births  over  deaths.  Consequently 
year  by  year  the  population  of  Ireland  is  actually 
decreasing,  because  emigration  is  proceeding 
more  rapidly  than  the  natural  increase. 

These  most  suggestive  figures,  read  side  by 
side  with  the  statistics  as  to  lunacy  and  idiocy 
given  in  an  earlier  chapter,  prove  conclusively 
that  the  condition  of  Ireland  is  becoming  more 
and  more  aggravated  as  she  loses  the  best  of 
her  population. 

(5)  As  to  the  wage-earning  capacity  of  the 
labouring  population  in  Ireland,  Sir  Robert 
Giffen  quoted,  before  the  Royal  Commission  on 
Financial  Relations,  a  number  of  most  interest- 
ing statements.  He  held  that  the  average  wages 
in  Ireland,  when  great  masses  of  labour  are 
compared,  range  from  10  to  15  per  cent,  up  to 
nearly  50  per  cent,  lower  than  for  similar  masses 
of  labour  for  Great  Britain.1  Turning  to  special 

1  This  conclusion  has  since  been  controverted,  it  being  held 
that  in  no  case  is  Ireland's  inferiority  more  than  40  per  cent. 
The  point  does  not,  however,  seriously  affect  the  present 
argument. 


IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS.          105 

classes,  he  admitted  that  artisan  rates  in  Ireland 
are  only  a  little  less  than  in  Great  Britain  ;  but 
he  pointed  out  that  in  this  case  the  comparison 
is  between  a  very  small  class,  indeed,  in  Ireland 
with  an  enormous  class  in  Great  Britain.  Com- 
paring the  wage-rates  of  Ireland  and  Great 
Britain,  Sir  Robert  Giffen  held  that  the  average 
remuneration  of  the  wage-earner,  man  for  man, 
is  probably  only  about  half  the  average  remu- 
neration of  the  wage-earner  in  Great  Britain. 
Sir  Robert  Giffen's  conclusions  are  borne  out  by 
all  who  have  had  opportunities  of  observing  the 
condition  of  the  labouring  classes  in  the  two 
countries.  Ireland  has  singularly  few  industries 
apart  from  agriculture  ;  and  the  Board  of  Trade 
has  shown  that  the  average  wage  of  the  labourer 
is  41-5  per  cent,  less  than  it  is  in  England. 
This  rate,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  for  the 
whole  of  Ireland  ;  and  the  proportion  would  be 
even  lower  were  it  not  for  the  comparative 
prosperity  enjoyed  by  workers  in  a  few  districts ; 
in  Mayo  the  average  weekly  wage,  for  instance, 
is  only  8s.  gd.  Judging  by  the  above-mentioned 
five  tests  of  the  relative  capacity  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  to  bear  taxation,  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  burden  falls  upon  the  latter 
with  disproportionate  weight.  And  she  suffers 
in  other  respects. 

The   working    classes    of    Ireland,    in    com- 
parison   with    the    working     classes    of    Great 


106        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

Britain,  are  greatly  underpaid ;  and  the  lower 
the  wage,  the  more  heavily  does  indirect 
taxation  bear  upon  the  population.  The  duties 
on  alcoholic  liquors,  tea,  tobacco,  and  other 
articles  which,  though  technically  luxuries,  have 
very  properly  come  to  be  considered  necessaries 
of  life,  are  felt  more  heavily  in  Ireland  than  in 
Great  Britain,  because  the  poor  are  numerous 
and  very  poor.  While  in  Great  Britain  direct 
and  indirect  taxation  are  fairly  evenly  balanced, 
in  Ireland  the  poverty  of  the  country  is  so  great 
that  72*2  per  cent,  of  the  amount  which  she 
pays  into  the  Imperial  Exchequer  is  raised  by 
taxes  upon  such  commodities  as  are  in  daily  use 
among  the  poorest  people. 

Then,  again,  our  system  of  free  imports  and 
taxed  exports  has  been  unfavourable  to  Ireland. 
It  was  devised  to  suit  a  great  manufacturing 
population ;  and,  however  well  it  may  have 
fulfilled  that  object,  it  is  admittedly  not  bene- 
ficial to  agricultural  communities.  It  has  sent 
land  out  of  cultivation  in  Great  Britain  ;  but  the 
British  people  had  other  occupations  to  which 
they  could  turn  their  hands  when  agriculture 
failed  them.  In  Ireland,  with  the  exception 
of  two  great  industries  in  Belfast,  the  whole 
population,  broadly  speaking,  is  dependent  on 
agriculture.  Free  Trade,  however  beneficial  it 
may  have  been  to  Great  Britain,  where  the  bulk 
of  the  population  are  engaged  in  manufacturing 


IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS.          107 

industries,  has  undoubtedly  been  detrimental  to 
Ireland,  where  the  people  are  engaged  almost 
exclusively  in  agriculture.  This  is  one  of 
the  penalties  Ireland  has  paid,  and  it  has 
contributed  to  her  poverty. 

Summarising  all  the  above-mentioned  statistics 
and  figures,  the  facts  which  stand  out  are  as 
follows : — 

(a)  The  wealth  of  Ireland,  as  proved  by 
income-tax  returns,  by  taxed  salaries  of  officials 
in  the  employ  of  municipalities  and  public 
companies,  by  the  wage-earning  capacity  of 
the  labouring  classes,  by  the  marriage  and  birth- 
rate, and  by  all  other  tests,  is,  as  compared  with 
the  wealth  of  Great  Britain,  out  of  proportion  to 
the  relative  amount  of  taxation  paid  by  the 
people  of  the  two  islands. 

(b)  The  best  of  the  population  is  still  flowing 
outward    from    Ireland,    and    seeking  a    future 
outside  the  British  Empire ;  89  per  cent,  of  Irish 
emigrants  settling  in  foreign  countries. 

(c)  The  excess  of  births  over   deaths  is  still 
so  small  as  to  point  to,  on  the  one  hand,  physical 
deterioration  of  a  most  alarming  character,  and, 
on  the  other,  to  an  absence  of  a  due  proportion 
of  able-bodied  persons  remaining  in  the  country. 

(d)  The  emigration  of  the  most  physically  and 
mentally  fit,  and  the  hopeless  life  which  is  led  by 


IO8        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

the  largest  section  of  the  people  of  Ireland,  are 
resulting  in  an  increase  of  lunacy  which  is 
proving  a  scourge  to  the  land. 

Surely  it  is  unnecessary  to  probe  for  further 
indications  of  the  accelerated  speed  at  which 
Ireland  is  sinking  into  a  social  condition  which, 
if  not  speedily  dealt  with,  will  baffle  the  efforts 
of  the  wisest  statesmen. 

The  facts  of  Ireland's  poverty  and  Ireland's 
disproportionate  taxation  will  not,  I  think,  be 
denied  by  anyone  who  reads  the  facts  and 
figures  which  I  have  quoted,  and  studies  the 
materials  from  which  they  have  been  culled. 
Which  is  the  cause,  and  which  the  effect  ?  Is 
Ireland  over-taxed  because  she  is  poor,  or  poor 
because  she  is  over-taxed  ?  There  is  truth  in 
both  propositions.  Unquestionably  the  crushing 
weight  of  taxation  smothers  individual  effort  and 
stifles  energy  ;  unquestionably  also  the  absence  of 
industrial  employment  and  the  general  poverty 
account  for  the  fact  that  the  equal  taxation  of 
the  same  articles  places  upon  her  an  unequal 
burden.  What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ?  Changes 
in  our  methods  of  raising  revenue  beneficial  to 
the  poorer  classes  in  Great  Britain,  and  con- 
sequently beneficial  to  Ireland  as  a  whole,  are 
certainly  not  impossible;  but  they  are  problem- 
atical, and  cannot  be  relied  upon  as  a  remedy 
for  a  disease  demanding  immediate  treatment. 
There  remains  the  principle  underlying  the 


IRELAND'S  FINANCIAL  BURDENS.          109 

Union — exceptional  treatment  under  exceptional 
circumstances.  If  Great  Britain  is  to  act  with 
common  justice,  if  she  is  honestly  to  carry  out 
the  terms  of  the  contract  entered  into  by  the 
two  independent  Legislatures  in  the  Act  amalga- 
mating them,  she  must  follow  one  of  two 
courses.  Either  she  must  carry  out  the  promise 
of  Lord  Castlereagh — that  taxation  should  be 
with  regard  to  the  measure  of  the  relative 
abilities  of  the  two  countries  to  pay — and  must 
adopt  differential  treatment  and  the  remission 
of  taxation — a  policy  which  appears  to  me 
impracticable ;  or  she  must  endeavour  to 
increase  the  taxable  capacity  of  Ireland  by  the 
wise  application  of  public  money  to  the 
development  and  the  more  fruitful  utilization 
of  the  natural  resources  of  the  country. 

One  obvious  source  of  supply  for  this  most 
necessary  purpose  is  in  retrenchment  in  the 
expenses  of  administration  and  in  the  allocation 
to  Irish  purposes  of  the  savings  thus  effected. 
Even  the  late  Government  appeared  to  see 
the  advantages  of  such  a  course.  Speaking  in 
the  debate  on  the  i6th  of  May,  1905,  the 
ex-Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  referred  to 
the  fact  that  he  had  last  year  expressed  his 
concurrence  in  the  proposal  of  the  then  Chief 
Secretary,  Mr.  George  Wyndham,  that  if  further 
economy  be  made  in  the  Irish  judiciary  the 
sum  so  saved  should  be  re-spent  in  Ireland  on 


110        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

the  purposes  of  development  or  of  administra- 
tion which  should  commend  themselves  to  the 
Government  and  the  people  of  that  country. 
He  thought  that  in  more  branches  than  one  of 
the  Irish  administration  it  was  probable  that, 
with  the  goodwill  of  the  Irish  members,  con- 
siderable economies  could  be  made.  Mr.  Austen 
Chamberlain  guarded  the  Treasury  against  the 
admission  that,  as  of  right,  the  whole  administra- 
tive savings  should  go  to  Irish  purposes ;  but 
when  I  find  the  subsequent  Chief  Secretary,  Mr. 
Long,  allowing  that  reform  in  administration  is 
necessary,  and  Mr.  Austen  Chamberlain  agreeing 
that  it  is  possible  to  effect  economies,  and  that  a 
portion  at  any  rate  of  the  money  so  saved  should 
be  devoted  to  Irish  services,  I  hail  with  satisfac- 
tion an  admission — even  if  it  be  only  a  partial, 
halting,  and  tentative  admission — of  the  prin- 
ciples for  which  I  contend.  But  the  principle 
can  be  brought  into  active  operation  only  in  one 
way,  and  that  is  by  enlisting  the  direct  aid  of  the 
public  in  Ireland.  Economies  will  be  effected 
only  by  making  it  to  the  interest  of  the  people 
that  such  economies  should  be  made,  and  that 
can  be  accomplished  only  by  assuring  them 
that  the  money  so  saved  shall  be  devoted  to 
Irish  purposes.  Economies  will  be  brought 
about  only  if  local  knowledge,  interest,  brains, 
and  experience  are  employed  in  making  them, 
and  are  allowed  to  determine  the  purposes  to 
which  the  money  so  saved  is  to  be  applied. 


EDUCATIONAL    CHAOS.  Ill 


CHAPTER  VI. 

EDUCATIONAL  CHAOS. 

Now  that  the  centuries-old  troubles  connected 
with  the  Land  Question  are  in  process  of  solu- 
tion, a  chief  remaining  obstacle  to  progress 
in  Ireland  lies  in  the  educational  chaos  existing 
in  that  country,  and  in  the  delay  in  dealing 
with  the  grievance  of  Roman  Catholics  due 
to  their  deprivation  of  adequate  facilities  for 
higher  education.  It  is  probably  no  exaggeration 
to  state  that  the  irritation  under  which  the 
majority  of  the  people  of  Ireland  suffer,  and 
which  finds  expression  in  many  ways,  may  be 
traced  to  the  fact  that  they  feel  that  the 
religious  faith  which  they  profess  places  them 
in  a  position  of  inferiority.  They  believe  that 
their  educational  disabilities  handicap  them  in 
the  competitive  struggles  of  life  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  account  for  the  fact,  admitted  by 
at  least  one  Chief  Secretary,  that  so  many 
Irishmen  are  debarred  from  taking  an  adequate 
part  in  the  executive  government  of  their 
country.  So  far  as  education  is  concerned, 
they  hold  that  the  ascendancy  of  the  minority 
is  still  maintained. 


112  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

At  present  the  whole  of  the  educational  system 
of  Ireland  is  an  anomalous  botch.  No  semblance 
of  real  co-ordination  exists,  with  the  result  that 
in  no  other  part  of  the  British  Empire  is  the 
machinery  for  education  so  ill-adjusted  to  the 
needs  of  the  community,  and  so  barren  in 
results. 

On  the  lowest  rung  of  the  educational  ladder 
are  the  schools  which  give  primary  education 
throughout  the  whole  of  Ireland  to  the  children 
of  the  poorer  classes — that  is,  of  those  who  can- 
not afford  to  pay  for  education  in  private  schools. 
These  primary  schools  are  managed  by  the 
Board  of  National  Education.  This  Board 
received  grants  from  the  Imperial  Government 
amounting,  in  1905,  to  £1,394,000.  There  is  a 
constant  struggle  between  the  Board  and  the 
Government,  especially  on  the  subject  of  school 
holdings.  The  school  buildings  are,  it  must  be 
admitted,  to  a  great  extent  insufficient  and  ill- 
kept,  while  the  teachers  have  not  had  adequate 
opportunities  for  becoming  efficient.  The  local 
managers  possess  the  right  of  appointment  and 
removal  of  teachers,  and  generally  regulate 
the  schools:  8710  of  these  schools  dealing 
with  primary  education  are  classed  as  national ; 
30  are  styled  model  schools;  and  135  are 
attached  to  workhouses.  In  addition  to  these, 
there  are  3000  "  mixed  "  schools,  and  a  large 
number  of  evening  schools.  Two  defects  in 


EDUCATIONAL   CHAOS.  113 

the  system  of  primary  education  in  Ireland 
are  immediately  and  prominently  noticeable — 
the  large  number  of  schools  with  a  very  small 
average  attendance,  and  the  absence  of  local 
interest  either  in  the  way  of  financial  support  or 
in  management.  In  Ireland  there  are  upwards  of 
8200  principal  teachers  ;  whereas  in  Scotland, 
with  about  the  same  population,  the  number  is 
only  just  over  4600.  Ireland  has  about  twice 
as  many  schools  as  Scotland.  This  is  to  be 
accounted  for  to  some  extent  by  religious  diver- 
gences, and  the  objection  to  teaching  children 
of  both  sexes,  even  of  the  tenderest  years,  in 
the  same  school ;  but  it  is  indicative  also  of  a 
faulty  system,  for  no  one  acquainted  with  the 
primary  education  of  the  two  countries  would 
suggest  that  the  Irish  standard  approaches  that 
which  has  been  attained  by  the  neighbouring 
country.  It  should  be  added  that  conventual 
schools  receive  capitation  grants  through  the 
National  Board,  and,  like  other  establishments, 
are  inspected  by  the  representatives  of  the 
National  Board.  One  of  the  most  interesting 
groups  of  schools  in  Ireland  is,  however,  entirely 
outside  the  control  of  the  National  Board.  For 
nearly  one  hundred  years  the  Christian  Brothers 
have  conducted  schools  in  Ireland  which  are 
now  attended  by  about  40,000  scholars.  For 
a  time  they  received  grants  from  the  National 
Board,  but  eventually  decided  to  forego  this 

i 


114  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

assistance,  so  as  to  gain  full  control  over  the 
curriculum  of  teaching  and  religious  instruction. 
Consequently,  these  schools  are  now  conducted 
entirely  out  of  voluntary  funds,  and  successive 
Royal  Commissions,  which  have  inquired  into 
Irish  education,  have  borne  high  testimony  to 
the  character  of  the  education. 

There  is  also  a  body  known  as  "  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Education  "  who  manage  a  number  of 
endowed  schools  of  Royal  and  private  founda- 
tion and  Diocesan  schools.  These  Commis- 
sioners enjoy  an  income,  derived  for  the  most 
part  from  rents,  of  just  under  £7000  a  year,  and 
are  assisted  in  their  duties  by  a  Protestant  and 
Roman  Catholic  Board  in  each  of  the  following 
districts  : — Armagh,  Tyrone,  Fermanagh,  Cavan, 
and  Donegal. 

Secondary  school  education  comes  under  the 
control  of  twelve  Commissioners  of  Intermediate 
Education,  specially  chosen  under  the  Act  of 
1900.  Out  of  the  Irish  Church  surplus,  they 
possess  a  million  pounds  sterling,  and,  in  addi- 
tion, they  receive  local  taxation  duties  which 
realize  upwards  of  £56,000  annually.  Dr.  Mac- 
namara,  M.P.,  in  "The  Contemporary  Review" 
(October,  1904),  pointed  out  that  the  Board 
spent  in  examining  7909  pupils  at  the  rate  of 
£2  43.  2d.  per  head ;  and  inquired — "  Is  there 
anything  like  it  outside  China  ?  "  With  the  funds 
at  their  disposal,  amounting  to  £91,166  in  1904, 


EDUCATIONAL   CHAOS.  115 

the  Commissioners  carry  out  a  system  of  public 
examinations,  award  exhibitions,  prizes,  and 
certificates,  and  pay  result  fees  to  school  man- 
agers fulfilling  certain  prescribed  conditions. 
The  system  of  examination  which  the  Board 
administers  is  generally  regarded  as  the  least 
conducive  to  educational  efficiency.  It  has  been 
abandoned  in  England,  where  it  was  held  that 
it  encouraged  mere  cramming. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Technical 
Instruction  makes  grants  to  Schools  for  the 
teaching  of  Science  and  Art,  as  under  the 
"  South  Kensington  "  system,  and  it  also 
supports  technical  schools  in  various  parts  of 
Ireland  ;  these  schools  being,  in  the  case 
of  county  boroughs  and  counties,  under  the 
management  of  the  local  authorities. 

The  principal  institutions  for  higher  education 
in  Ireland  consist  of: — 

(t)  Dublin  University,  which  is  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  Trinity  College.  Trinity  College 
is  supported  by  the  revenue  from  landed  estate, 
and  the  fees  of  the  students. 

(2)  The  Royal  University  of  Ireland,  which 
is  merely  an  examining  Board.  The  chief 
teaching  institutions  which  send  students  to 
its  examinations  are  the  Queen's  Colleges  at 
Belfast,  Cork,  and  Galway ;  Magee  College, 
Londonderry  (Presbyterian)  ;  the  Arts  section 


Il6         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

of  the  College  of  Maynooth,  and  the  group  of 
Colleges  designated  in  the  Catholic  Directory 
as  the  "  Catholic  University."  Of  these,  the 
University  College  in  Stephen's  Green,  Dublin, 
is  directed  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  The  Royal 
University  will  examine  and  confer  a  Degree  on 
anybody  whether  he  has  attended  any  classes 
anywhere  or  not. 

(3)  The  Royal  College  of  Science  for  Ireland 
(St.  Stephen's  Green),  which  is  now  under  the 
control  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and 
Technical  Instruction. 

(4)  The  ancient  foundation  of  Maynooth  Col- 
lege, where  priests  for  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
are  educated.    This  institution  formerly  received 
an  annual  grant  from  the  Irish  Parliament,  and 
then  from  the  Imperial  Parliament ;  but  in  1869  a 
sum  of  £372,331  out  of  the  Irish  Church  surplus 
was  given  to  it  by  way  of  compensation  for  the 
withdrawal  of  Parliamentary  funds. 

Other  educational  institutions  in  Ireland  in- 
clude minor  Roman  Catholic  colleges  situated 
in  various  parts  of  the  country,  receiving  no  State 
aid,  and  the  Presbyterian  Theological  College 
for  the  training  of  ministers  at  Belfast.  Prior  to 
the  Act  of  1869,  this  College  had  a  Parliamentary 
grant ;  but  under  the  enactment  of  1869  this  was 
abolished,  and  a  lump  sum  of  nearly  £34,000  was 
granted  as  compensation. 


EDUCATIONAL   CHAOS.  117 

Most  of  these  colleges  have  from  time  to  time 
benefited  by  private  benefactions. 

This  brief  summary  hardly  suggests  the  con- 
fusion and  overlapping  in  education  which  occur 
throughout  Ireland ;  but  a  picture  of  the  state 
of  affairs  may  be  gained  from  the  following 
excerpts  from  a  speech  by  Mr.  Bryce,  then  Irish 
Secretary  (March  22nd,  1906) : — 

There  was  no  branch  of  Irish  education  which  could  be 
pronounced  satisfactory. 

In  regard  to  the  aspects  of  primary  education,  the  Irish 
schools  were  much  too  small ;  and  the  payments  to  the  teachers 
were  low  partly  because  the  schools  were  so  small. 

The  bad  and  insanitary  conditions  of  the  school  buildings 
were  more  serious  than  had  been  mentioned.  One  result  of 
them  was  that  when  an  epidemic  broke  out,  all  the  children 
took  it,  and  the  whole  school  was  disorganized,  the  result  being 
that  the  educational  results  obtained  in  the  year  were  not  half 
what  they  ought  to  be.  Another  point  was  the  irregular  atten- 
dance, the  want  of  compulsion,  which  was  imperfectly  applied  ; 
and  the  attendance  was  not  only  irregular,  but  was  very  short 
in  Ireland. 

The  Government  had  practically  no  control  over  the 
National  Board  (which  is  responsible  for  primary  education 
throughout  Ireland). 

Over  the  Intermediate  Board  they  had  even  less  control. 

The  Intermediate  Education  Board  was  an  examining  body 
which  awarded  prizes  and  grants,  which  were  an  incentive  to 
examining.  It  was  a  fault  of  legislation  which  called  the 
Board  into  existence  ;  and  it  was  a  system  which  was  utterly 
wrong.  What  they  ought  to  do  was  to  foster  the  schools,  and 
give  them  the  benefit  of  an  enlightened  and  helpful  inspec- 
tion. It  was  also  completely  disjointed  from  the  necessities 
of  technical  education,  which  was  placed  under  the  control  of 
the  Agricultural  Department. 


Il8  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

Coming  to  the  question  of  university  education,  there  had 
been  a  universal  consensus  of  opinion  that  university  educa- 
tion was  altogether  unsatisfactory.  The  Royal  University  had 
been  generally  condemned  ;  and  he  should  be  the  last  person 
to  differ  from  that  view,  because  in  1880,  when  the  Royal 
University  was  substituted  for  the  Queen's,  he  was  almost  the 
only  person  to  oppose  and  protest  against  it,  maintaining  that 
it  would  have  the  results  which  had  happened.  But  the  most 
effective  condemnation  had  been  given  by  the  Royal  Univer- 
sity itself.  On  Friday  it  passed  a  resolution  with  unanimity 
saying  that  experience  had  shown  that,  as  an  examining  body, 
it  was  entirely  unsatisfactory,  and  ought  to  be  turned  into  a 
teaching  University. 

Mr.  Bryce  is  an  expert  in  educational  matters, 
a  graduate  of  Glasgow  and  Oxford  Universities, 
a  member  of  the  Senate  of  London  University, 
and  was  the  Chairman  of  the  Royal  Commission 
on  Secondary  Education  which  sat  twelve  years 
ago.  It  is  no  wonder,  under  the  circumstances, 
that  so  eminent  an  authority  professed  himself 
unable  to  place  before  the  House  any  clear 
conception  of  the  state  of  education  in  Ireland. 

It  would  be  quite  impossible,  he  said,  for  him  to  enter  into 
the  dark  labyrinth  of  the  relations  of  Irish  finance  to  the 
English  Treasury,  and  especially  of  the  relations  of  the 
Imperial  Treasury  to  Irish  education.  Successive  Irish  and 
British  Governments  seemed  to  have  been  occupied  for  sixty 
years  in  tying  a  series  of  knots  which  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  unravel,  and  nothing  short  of  a  prolonged  inquiry  would 
clear  up  those  relations.  He  confessed  he  could  give  the 
House  no  light  upon  the  matter,  and  light  wanted  to  be  let  in 
upon  it ;  and  the  whole  relations  of  the  Imperial  Treasury  to 
the  Irish  educational  system  required  to  be  set  on  a  new 
footing,  made  more  intelligible  and  more  practical  and  more 
conducive  to  the  benefit  of  Irish  education. 


EDUCATIONAL   CHAOS.  IIQ 

The  fact  is,  the  whole  educational  edifice 
requires  to  be  pulled  down  and  rebuilt ;  and, 
contrary  to  the  ordinary  laws  of  architecture, 
it  must  be  rebuilt  from  top  to  bottom.  The  apex 
must  be  constructed  first.  Higher  education 
must  be  satisfactorily  settled  in  order  to  provide 
the  human  material — namely,  the  teachers — for 
constructing  a  sound  system  of  secondary  and 
primary  education.  The  problem  of  higher 
education  being  solved,  a  sound  and  co-ordinate 
primary  and  secondary  system  would  naturally 
follow.  Education  is,  of  course,  a  whole,  and 
must  be  considered  and  dealt  with  as  a  whole. 
Primary  and  secondary  schools  must  lead  up 
to  university  education  endowed  with  technical 
facilities.  The  channel  must  be  direct  and 
unimpeded  ;  but  the  goal — the  university — must 
be  established  before  the  human  current  can 
flow  freely. 

This  much  is  certain  :  if  the  great  majority  of 
the  people  are  to  acquire  that  independence, 
self-reliance,  energy,  and  mental  equipment 
necessary  to  enable  Ireland  to  regain  the  com- 
mercial activity  which  rendered  her  prosperous 
in  former  days,  energetic  action  must  be  taken 
to  bring  Irish  education  into  line  with  the  best 
expert  opinion,  and  to  build  up  a  co-ordinated 
system  which  shall  serve  as  a  ladder  by  which 
the  poorest  child  of  exceptional  ability  may 
rise  from  the  primary  school  to  compete  for 


I2O        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

distinctions  and  honours  in  a  national  university 
or  in  a  technical  establishment  of  the  Charlotten- 
burg  type,  and  then  pass  out  into  the  world  well 
equipped  to  handle  problems  and  affairs  in  his 
native  land  or  further  afield.  This  is  no  mere 
Utopian  idea.  In  England  it  is  to-day  a  reality  ; 
and  year  by  year  the  number  of  children  of  the 
poorest  class  who  are  thus  enabled  to  make  the 
best  of  their  abilities  is  increasing.  In  London 
itself,  which  has  a  population  about  equivalent 
to  that  of  Ireland,  the  County  Council  have 
adopted  a  scheme  embracing  5,021  scholar- 
ships, which  are  offered  annually,  so  that  a 
capable  child,  entering  the  Council's  Schools 
at  an  early  age,  may  pass  at  the  age  of  ten 
into  the  higher  grade  school,  or  at  twelve  years 
to  the  higher  elementary  school,  or  other 
secondary  or  grammar  school,  to  proceed  finally 
either  to  a  university  or  to  one  of  the  scientific 
training  establishments,  the  curriculum  of  which 
is  adapted  to  train  the  scholars  for  a  scientific 
occupation  or  for  one  or  other  of  the  arts  or 
crafts. 

Admitting  that  Ireland  needs  a  well  co-ordi- 
nated system  of  primary  and  secondary  and 
technical  education,  "  according  to  Irish  ideas  " 
— and  this  is  widely  admitted — there  comes  into 
the  foreground  the  perennial  difficulty  of  pro- 
viding for  the  higher  training  of  those  pupils 
who  are  fitted  by  their  abilities  for  university 


EDUCATIONAL    CHAOS.  121 

education.  This  also  must  be  in  accordance 
with  Irish  ideas,  if  it  is  to  be  successful.  What, 
however,  is  the  present  position  in  Ireland  ?  In 
the  widest  sense,  Ireland  has  one  university, 
that  is,  a  body  which  teaches  as  well  as 
examines,  and  exercises  a  liberalizing  influence 
over  its  students,  and  that  is  Trinity,  Protestant 
for  centuries.  The  function  of  a  university 
is  not  only  to  impart  knowledge.  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  do  not  only  instruct  but 
educate — a  very  different  matter.  As  the  Royal 
Commission  in  1903  admirably  put  it : — 

A  university  is  not  a  warehouse  for  receiving  an  assortment 
of  goods,  and  testing  whether  they  are  up  to  sample.  It  has 
a  double  function.  One  is  the  discovery  of  new  truths.  The 
other  and  primary  function  is  to  supply  trained  intelligence 
which  shall  stimulate  and  guide  the  mind  of  the  student  along 
various  lines  of  intellectual  inquiry.  A  university  helps  to 
form  a  mental  habit  and  attitude  ;  it  seeks  to  impart  philo- 
sophic breadth  and  grasp ;  it  lays  down  the  principles  of 
learning,  and  unifies  knowledge.  To  test  results  is  an 
accident,  an  inseparable  accident,  perhaps,  but  not  of  the 
essence  of  a  university.  Were  we  called  upon  to  decide 
between  university  instruction  without  examination,  and 
examination  without  university  instruction,  we  should  not 
hesitate  in  our  choice.  In  Ireland  the  sense  of  collegiate  life, 
outside  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  needs  to  be  restored. 

To  the  students  (it  was  added)  the  decay  of  the  old 
academic  principle  has  been  an  incalculable  loss.  Private 
study  and  private  coaching  lack  the  very  elements  which 
confer  on  university  education  its  ideal  value,  viz.,  the  personal 
intercourse  between  teacher  and  pupil  outside  the  class-room  ; 
the  comradeship  and  esprit  de  corps  of  collegiate  life ;  the 
generous  rivalries  of  the  field  or  the  debating  society;  the 


122  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

contact  of  minds  and  the  play  of  intellect ;  in  a  word,  all  that 
full  and  varied  existence  which  remains  a  cherished  possession 
in  after  days.  If  there  is  any  country  in  which  it  appears  un- 
natural to  discourage  this  particular  factor  of  university  life, 
it  is  Ireland,  where  social  and  human  influences  enter  so 
largely  into  the  best  qualities  of  the  race. 

Ireland  has  practically  only  one  university  r 
and  that  university  consists  of  a  single  college. 
It  is  an  institution  distinctly  Protestant  in  origin 
and  character.  Trinity  College  was  founded  in 
the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  largely  as  a 
proselytising  institution  in  a  Roman  Catholic 
country.  The  foundation  of  other  colleges  was 
evidently  contemplated  when  the  scheme  was 
adopted.  The  Charter  of  James  I,  which 
conferred  on  the  College  the  status  of  a 
university,  foreshadowed  the  establishment  of 
other  colleges  or  halls  within  the  university ; 
and  this  intention  was  more  precisely  indicated 
by  the  Act  of  Settlement,  and  an  Act  of 
George  III  distinctly  provided  for  the  erection 
within  the  University  of  Dublin  of  a  Roman 
Catholic  college.  But  for  various  reasons  the 
original  scheme  was  never  carried  out.  Since 
the  Test  Abolition  Act,  Trinity  College  has,  of 
course,  been  open  to  Roman  Catholics ;  but  in 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  when  education 
throughout  the  world  was  passing  from  the 
control  of  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  and  abso- 
lute secularism  seemed  destined  to  prevail,  the 
Roman  Catholic  Bishops  laid  a  ban  upon  Trinity 


EDUCATIONAL   CHAOS.  123 

College,  with  the  result  that,  however  excellent 
may  have  been  the  intentions  of  the  Senate,  this 
establishment,  despite  the  abolition  of  Tests, 
remains  a  Protestant  establishment  to  this  day. 

Sir  Robert  Peel,  in  1845,  endeavoured  to 
remove  Catholic  disabilities  by  the  establishment 
of  the  Queen's  Colleges,  which  were  finally 
opened  in  1849  ;  and  in  the  following  year  the 
Queen's  University,  of  which  these  Colleges  were 
the  constituents,  received  its  Charter.  It  was  a 
teaching  University  ;  but,  owing  to  its  constitu- 
tion, it  was  condemned  as  "  a  gigantic  scheme  of 
godless  education."  The  authors  of  this  scheme 
believed  that  in  localities  like  Cork  and  Galway 
the  Colleges  would  necessarily  in  the  main  be 
Roman  Catholic,  but  in  fact  they  never  became 
so ;  and,  almost  from  the  first,  the  Pope,  on 
account  of  their  character  and  system  of  control, 
described  them  as  involving  grave  danger  to  the 
faith  and  morals  of  Catholics  ;  and,  finally, 
the  Bishops  were  directed  to  frame  rules  for 
withholding  the  faithful  from  frequenting  the 
Colleges.  In  the  apparently  atheistic  movement 
which  was  then  spreading  over  Europe,  the  Irish 
Bishops  made  a  stand  against  what  they  con- 
sidered an  impending  danger.  They  failed  to 
see  any  justice  in  placing  in  their  midst  a 
nominally  undenominational  education  at  a  time 
when  every  university  of  the  Three  Kingdoms 
(except  that  of  London)  was  denominational. 


124  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

The  Catholics  were  offered  mixed  education ; 
and  in  view  of  the  spirit  of  the  times,  which 
they,  perhaps,  not  unnaturally  exaggerated,  they 
refused  the  concession. 

Passing  over  several  years,  we  come  to  the 
establishment,  in  1879,  of  the  Royal  University 
in  place  of  the  Queen's  University.  The  Fellows 
are  appointed  from  among  the  Professors  of  the 
three  Queen's  Colleges,  of  the  Catholic  Univer- 
sity College,  Dublin,  and  of  Magee  College, 
Londonderry,  a  Presbyterian  institution.  The 
Fellows  are  paid  by  the  State,  and  thus  the 
Roman  Catholic  College  at  Dublin  and  the 
Presbyterian  College  at  Londonderry,  though 
they  receive  no  direct  endowment,  obtain 
indirect  endowments  amounting  in  the  case  of 
University  College  to  ^6,000  annually,  while 
the  last  Institution  receives  a  matter  of  ^500. 
Similarly,  Maynooth  College,  which  is  the 
Roman  Catholic  Seminary  in  Ireland  for  the 
training  of  priests,  though  it  has  ceased  to  profit 
by  the  annual  grant  formerly  voted  by  the  Irish 
Parliament,  obtained  out  of  the  Irish  Church 
surplus  the  sum  of  ^369,040.  The  University 
College  is  a  purely  examining  body  in  which 
there  is  room  for  suspicion  that  the  Governors 
and  Fellows  are  selected  rather  on  religious 
grounds  than  for  their  academical  distinction. 

It  is  really  beside  the  question  to  argue 
whether  the  conscientious  objections  of  Roman 


EDUCATIONAL   CHAOS.  125 

Catholics  to  Trinity  College  and  the  Queen's 
Colleges  are  or  are  not  sufficiently  well  founded. 
Personally  I  think  they  are.  Take,  for  instance, 
Trinity  College.  Trinity  College  is  open  to 
everyone ;  no  tests  of  any  sort  exist ;  no  religious 
instruction  of  any  sort  is  obligatory.  But 
Trinity  College  is  Protestant  to  the  core,  redolent 
of  Protestantism.  Its  governing  body  consists 
almost  entirely  of  Protestants.  It  cannot  divest 
itself  of  its  traditions,  its  characteristics,  its 
"atmosphere."  Try,  in  imagination,  to  reverse 
the  case.  Conceive  a  Protestant  community  held 
for  centuries  under  subjection  to  a  small  but 
all-powerful  Catholic  minority,  would  Protestants 
like  to  send  their  children  to  a  college  founded 
years  ago  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  Roman 
Catholicism,  consistent  throughout  in  its  Roman 
Catholicism,  governed  by  Roman  Catholics, 
saturated  with  Roman  Catholic  traditions,  filled 
with  Roman  Catholic  students  ?  I  think  they 
would  object,  and  I  think  they  would  be  right.  But 
whether  the  objections  which  Roman  Catholics 
have  to  Trinity  and  the  Queen's  Colleges 
are  justifiable  or  not,  what  we  have  to  deal 
with  is  the  fact,  and  the  fact  is  that  the  vast 
majority  of  the  people  of  Ireland  are  Roman 
Catholics,  and  they  have  the  strongest  conscien- 
tious scruples  against  allowing  their  children  to 
enter  upon  a  course  of  education  which  they 
think,  or  which  the  authorities  of  their  Church 


126  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

consider,  to  be  wrong  on  the  highest  religious 
grounds.  Roman  Catholic  parents  are  in  the 
painful  dilemma  of  being  either  compelled  to 
deny  their  children  higher  education,  or  to  run 
counter  to  the  directions  of  their  spiritual  pastors 
and  masters,  who  tell  them  that  the  existing 
system  of  higher  education  is  dangerous  to  faith 
and  morals.  What,  then,  is  it  that  Roman 
Catholics  require  ?  And  what  is  it  to  which 
Protestants  object  ?  The  common  but  erroneous 
idea  is  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Hierarchy  insist 
upon  a  Roman  Catholic  University  ;  and  against 
the  endowment  of  such  a  denominational  univer- 
sity or  college,  the  Protestant  conscience  revolts. 
What  do  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Ireland 
really  and  truly  ask  for  ?  In  the  first  place, 
they  certainly  do  not  seek  to  enrich  themselves 
at  the  expense  of  Trinity  College.  The  most 
authoritative  statement  on  this  question  was 
made  by  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops  in  1896, 
when  they  stated  : — 

We  do  not  seek  to  impair  the  efficiency  of  any  other 
institution.  We  do  not  want  to  take  one  shilling  from  the 
endowments  of  any  other  body.  We  look,  apart  from  the 
consideration  of  our  own  inequality,  with  much  admiration 
and  sympathy  upon  the  work  which  Trinity  College  and  the 
Belfast  Queen's  College  are  doing.  But  we  ask,  as  a  matter  of 
simple  justice,  that  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  should  be  put 
upon  a  footing  of  perfect  equality  with  them. 

This  view,  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Dr. 
Walsh,  reiterated  in  a  pamphlet  published  in 


EDUCATIONAL    CHAOS.  127 

1902.  The  attitude  of  Roman  Catholics  towards 
this  question  is  not  based  upon  feelings  of 
religious  jealousy.  They  view  the  work  which 
has  been  done  by  avowedly  Protestant  institu- 
tions with  sympathy  and  some  envy;  and  they 
ask  that  similar  benefits  may  be  conferred  upon 
them.  The  position  which  the  Irish  Bishops 
have  taken  up  was  stated  by  the  Archbishops 
and  Bishops  in  the  following  words : — 

What,  then,  do  we  claim  ?  Simply  to  be  put  on  an  equality 
with  our  Protestant  fellow-countrymen.  We  take  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  with  its  endowments  and  its  privileges,  and 
seeing  what  is  done  by  public  funds  and  legal  enactments  for  half 
a  million  of  Protestants  of  the  Disestablished  Church  of  Ireland, 
we  claim  that  at  least  as  much  should  be  done  for  the  three  and 
a  half  million  Catholics.  We  have  stated  on  many  occasions 
that  we  are  not  irrevocably  committed  to  any  one  principle  of 
settlement,  and  whether  that  settlement  is  carried  out  through 
a  distinct  Catholic  University  or  through  a  college,  we  shall 
be  prepared  to  consider  any  proposal  with  an  open  mind, 
and  with  a  sincere  desire  to  remove,  rather  than  aggravate, 
difficulties. 

The  question  is  one  of  conscience — of  the 
conscientious  scruples  of  over  three  millions  of 
our  fellow-subjects  in  Ireland  who  ask  that  there 
may  be  conceded  to  them  facilities  for  higher 
education  in  an  establishment  or  establishments, 
free  from  all  tests,  free  from  the  Protestant 
"atmosphere"  which  envelopes  Trinity  College. 
There  is  no  suggestion  of  setting  up  in  Ireland 
a  university  Roman  Catholic  de  jttre,  but  of 
some  establishment  which  would  in  the  course 
of  time,  through  the  opinions  of  its  students  and 


128        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

graduates,  be  sufficiently  Roman  Catholic  de  facto 
to  enable  students  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  to 
pursue  their  studies  in  a  Catholic  "atmosphere." 
In  other  parts  of  the  British  Empire,  where 
this  religious  difficulty  has  arisen,  a  satisfactory 
settlement  has  been  reached.  In  Nova  Scotia, 
St.  Anne's  University  receives  a  direct  grant 
from  the  Government.  In  Quebec,  the  Roman 
Catholics  were  granted  a  charter  for  a  university 
as  long  ago  as  1852.  At  that  time,  in  reply  to  a 
requisition  from  the  Bishops  of  Lower  Canada, 
Lord  Elgin  stated  that  "  he  had  no  hesitation 
in  acknowledging  the  justice  and  propriety  of 
securing  to  the  numerous  and  important  body  of 
Catholics  in  Canada  benefit  of  the  University 
which  they  have  been  until  now  deprived  of." 
In  Prussia,  a  similar  difficulty  existed ;  and  the 
solution  is  found  in  the  Universities  of  Bonn 
and  Breslau,  in  the  Academy  at  Miinster,  and 
in  the  Lyceum  Hosianu  at  Braunsberg,  where 
special  provision  is  made  for  the  teaching  of 
Catholic  theology.  In  the  first  two  universities, 
Protestant  theology  is  also  taught ;  but  the 
Lyceum  is  exclusively  for  Catholic  theology. 
The  Fribourg  University  of  Switzerland,  though 
it  is  not  a  purely  Roman  Catholic  institution, 
has  a  theological  faculty,  which,  with  the  sanction 
of  the  Pope,  was  authorized  solely  for  instruction 
based  on  the  tenets  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion.  This  faculty  is  under  the  control  of 


EDUCATIONAL   CHAOS.  I2Q 

the  Church ;  but  the  salaries  of  the  Professors 
are  paid  by  the  State. 

The  main  principle  insisted  upon  by  Pro- 
testants, namely,  that  there  should  be  no  State 
endowment  of  a  Roman  Catholic  College  or 
University,  is  not  imperilled,  for  Roman  Catholics 
do  not  demand  State  endowment  for  any 
establishment  exclusively  Roman  Catholic.  But 
the  further  objection  is,  I  think,  entertained  by 
Protestants  that,  even  if  that  be  so,  any  scheme 
satisfactory  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Hierarchy 
would  necessarily  increase  the  influence  and 
power  of  the  priest.  "  Rome  Rule  "— "  The 
Priest  in  Politics" — is  what  they  dread. 

Because  Roman  Catholic  Bishops  have  agi- 
tated for  educational  equality  for  those  in  their 
spiritual  charge,  it  has  been  hastily  assumed  that 
they  hope  to  gain  an  increased  hold  over  the 
intellects  of  their  flocks.  In  the  first  place, 
there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Roman  Catholic 
Hierarchy  desire  to  exercise  greater  authority 
in  secular  matters ;  in  the  second  place,  it  is 
certain  that  higher  education  among  the  laity 
would  tend  to  restrict  ecclesiastical  influence 
to  the  legitimate  sphere  of  faith  and  morals. 
On  this  point,  Dr.  O'Dea,  a  Vice-President  of 
the  Catholic  College,  Maynooth,  said : — 

He  was  convinced  that,  if  the  void  in  the  lay  leadership  of 
the  country  be  filled  up  by  higher  education  among  the  better 
classes  of  the  Catholic  laity,  the  power  of  the  priests,  so  far  as 

K 


130        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

it  is  abnormal  or  unnecessary,  will  pass  away.  This  effect 
stands  to  reason  as  inevitable.  It  is  the  necessary  and 
inevitable  result  of  university  life. 

That  Bishops  themselves  recognize  this  fact, 
and  are  somewhat  doubtful  even  as  to  the 
effect  of  higher  education  upon  their  legitimate 
spiritual  authority,  appears  evident  from  a 
remark  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of 
Limerick.  Dr.  O'Dwyer  said  : — 

As  far  as  religion  is  concerned,  I  really  don't  know  how  a 
university  would  work  out.  If  you  ask  me  now  whether  I 
think  that  that  university  in  a  certain  number  of  years  would 
become  a  centre  of  thought,  strengthening  the  Catholic  faith 
in  Ireland,  I  cannot  tell  you.  It  is  a  leap  in  the  dark. 

He  protested  that  the  Bishops  had  not  urged 
the  claims  of  the  Roman  Catholic  party  in  the 
hope  that  higher  education  would  strengthen 
their  own  Church,  and  added : — 

We  are  Bishops,  but  we  are  Irishmen  also,  and  we  want  to 
serve  our  country. 

The  belief  which  is,  as  I  believe,  widely 
entertained  among  the  people  of  Great  Britain, 
that  the  claims  of  Roman  Catholics  are 
engineered  by  the  Hierarchy  in  order  to  impose 
a  still  stricter  yoke  upon  the  Irish  people,  is,  I 
am  convinced,  unfounded.  Bishops  and  priests 
in  Ireland  have  quite  enough  to  do  in  attending 
to  the  spiritual  and  moral  welfare  of  their 
flocks.  We  have  no  right  to  assume  that  they 
desire  to  increase  their  secular  authority,  or  to 


EDUCATIONAL   CHAOS.  13! 

secure  any  improper  influence,  outside  their 
legitimate  sphere  of  faith  and  morals.  But, 
even  if  they  were  animated  by  that  desire,  how 
could  the  better  education  of  the  laity  assist 
them  ?  Education  is  far  more  likely  to  produce 
the  opposite  effect. 

It  is  not  realized  by  Englishmen  in  general 
that  one  result  of  the  educational  disabilities 
under  which  the  Roman  Catholic  laity  suffer,  is 
that  throughout  a  large  portion  of  the  country, 
the  role  of  leading  -public  opinion  and  the 
function  of  school  management  devolve  almost 
exclusively  upon  the  only  people  possessing  the 
requisite  knowledge  and  education — the  Roman 
Catholic  priesthood.  If  the  reproach  that 
Ireland  is  a  priest-ridden  country  be  true,  the 
responsibility  lies  mainly  with  those  who  deny 
to  Roman  Catholic  laymen  the  educational 
equality  which  they  claim.  It  is  said  that  in 
no  other  section  of  the  Empire  does  the  priest- 
hood occupy  a  position  of  such  influence.  If 
that  be  so,  the  reason  is  that  nowhere  else  has  a 
population  been  so  persistently  and  consistently 
starved  in  the  matter  of  education.  In  the 
settlement  of  the  whole  education  problem — 
from  the  lowest  rung  to  the  highest — lies  the 
solution  of  the  religious  controversies  which  tend 
to  embitter  public  and  private  life.  To  this 
opinion,  almost  all  who  have  studied  the  condi- 
tions which  prevail  in  Ireland,  from  Lord 


132  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

Beaconsfield  down  to  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour,  have 
time  and  again  given  their  adherence.  Sir 
Horace  Plunkett,  who  surely  can  speak  with 
authority  on  Irish  matters,  has  recorded  as  his 
opinion  that: — 

The  demoralizing  atmosphere  of  partizanship  which  hangs 
over  Ireland  would  gradually  give  way  before  an  organized 
system  of  education,  with  a  thoroughly  democratic  university 
at  its  head,  which  would  diffuse  amongst  the  people  at  large  a 
sense  of  the  value  of  a  balanced  judgment  on,  and  a  true 
appreciation  of,  the  real  forces  with  which  Ireland  has  to  deal 
in  building  up  her  fortunes. 

In  the  matter  of  university  education,  all  that 
Roman  Catholics  ask  for  is  equality ;  but  it  must 
be  real  and  practical,  not  merely  theoretical 
equality.  We  Protestants  must  remember  two 
things : — First,  that  the  whole  educational  life 
and  mental  development  of  Roman  Catholics  in 
Ireland  and  all  that  results  therefrom,  having 
been  for  centuries  crippled  and  stunted,  it 
behoves  us  to  cultivate  it  and  nourish  it  back  to 
normal  growth ;  and,  secondly,  that  what  may 
be  equality  to  us  is  not  necessarily  equality  to 
them.  Nonconformists  won  their  way  into  the 
great  English  universities.  The  removal  of 
tests  meant  equality  to  them.  Removal  of  tests 
does  not  mean  equality  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
laity  in  Ireland.  If  we  honestly  wish  to  do  as 
we  would  be  done  by,  we  must  understand  that 
the  conscientious  scruples  of  Roman  Catholics 
are  just  as  strong,  and  just  as  worthy  of  respect, 


EDUCATIONAL   CHAOS.  133 

as  our  conscientious  scruples,  but  of  a  different 
character. 

It  is  not  within  my  province  here  to  propound 
any  scheme  for  higher  education  ;  but  I  may 
mention  certain  general  principles  which  ought, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  to  be  observed.  Sectional 
discords  stand  in  the  way  of  reform  and  the 
regeneration  of  Ireland.  Every  legitimate  oppor- 
tunity should  be  offered  to  the  people  to  merge 
sectional  differences  in  large  national  concep- 
tions. National  education  affords  such  an 
opportunity.  One  national  university,  in  which 
all  Irishmen  can  take  interest  and  pride,  is  there- 
fore my  ideal,  and  Dublin  University  naturally 
suggests  itself.  Dublin  University  should  be 
enlarged  and  developed.  The  university  should 
be  a  teaching  as  well  as  an  examining  body. 
Trinity  College,  the  Queen's  Colleges,  and  a 
new  college  in  Dublin  should  form  its  constituent 
colleges ;  they  should  be  residential.  Local 
sentiment  should  be  invoked  in  the  colleges, 
so  far  as  is  compatible  with  the  solidarity  of 
the  university,  in  order  to  instil  life  into  the  dry 
bones  of  education  in  Ireland.  A  college  must 
be  fully  equipped  to  give  technical  instruction  of 
the  highest  kind. 

So  far  as  primary  and  secondary  education  is 
concerned,  everyone  who  has  given  an  hour's 
consecutive  thought  to  the  matter  will  agree 
with  Mr.  Bryce  that  the  National  Board  and  the 


134  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

Intermediate  Board  ought  to  be  consolidated, 
or  some  one  controlling  body  created  in  their 
place;  also  that  technical  education  should  be 
more  highly  organized.  It  will  not  be  denied 
that  the  organic  relation  of  primary  and 
secondary  education  is  one  of  the  first  things 
to  be  attended  to,  and  the  difficulty  of  effecting 
this  while  the  control  of  primary,  secondary, 
and  technical  education  is  under  different  and 
unrelated  bodies  will  be  admitted.  The  solution 
for  these  problems  is  to  be  found,  as  Mr.  Bryce 
suggests,  in  the  creation  of  one  educational 
department  for  Ireland ;  and  those  who  under- 
stand best  the  peculiar  distinctive  character  of 
the  Irish  people,  their  pride  of  race,  their 
history,  their  distinctive  customs  and  habits  of 
mind  and  method,  will  go  a  step  further  and 
urge  that  this  new  department  should  be  made 
in  some  measure  representative  of  Ireland,  so 
that  the  Irish  people  may  be  directly  interested 
in  a  matter  so  vitally  important  to  the  welfare 
of  their  country. 

After  all,  this  is  a  matter  which  primarily 
affects  the  nation  itself  and  its  future ;  and,  surely, 
it  is  not  necessary  at  this  late  date  to  urge  the 
justice  of  Irishmen  being  allowed  a  voice  in  the 
working  of  their  educational  machinery.  Educa- 
tion in  Ireland  has  never  aroused  popular  interest 
or  sympathy,  because  the  policy  has  always 
been  dictated  from  "over  the  water."  The 


EDUCATIONAL   CHAOS.  135 

means  available  for  equipment  have  been  inade- 
quate, and,  owing  to  the  lack  of  local  interest, 
there  has  been  an  absence  of  voluntary  effort, 
which,  in  the  past,  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
educational  system  throughout  Great  Britain. 
Education  in  England  was  voluntary  long  before 
it  passed  under  the  care  of  the  State;  but  the 
policy  which  has  been  followed  in  Ireland  has 
been  to  impose  an  educational  system  founded 
on  English  experience,  and  then  we  have  been 
in  the  habit  of  deploring  that  the  Irish  people 
have  not  assisted  in  a  work  which  has  never 
aroused  their  sympathy  because  their  sympathy 
has  never  been  sought.  In  education,  as  in  other 
matters,  the  fatal  assumption  that  Irish  needs 
must  be  dealt  with  by  English  methods  is  the 
root  cause  of  difficulty. 

Reform  in  the  general  educational  system 
presents  no  really  formidable  difficulty ;  co- 
ordination and  simplification  will  settle  that 
question.  In  higher  education,  principles  are 
involved :  the  solution  of  that  problem  must 
precede  all  other  reform ;  and  it  is  on  that 
problem  that  the  people  of  the  United  King- 
dom should  concentrate  their  attention  mainly. 
English  statesmen,  of  all  parties,  who  have 
studied  this  question,  have  frequently  admitted 
all  the  grievances  urged  by  Roman  Catholics ; 
but  they  have  failed  to  arrive  at  any  solution. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  a  solution  may  be  found 


136        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

by  the  Royal  Commission  now  enquiring  into 
the  matter;  but  even  if  they  fail,  we  need  not 
despair.  At  one  time  the  Irish  Land  Question 
was  regarded  as  a  hopeless  problem  ;  but  the 
conference,  at  which  leaders  of  all  sections  of 
opinion  threshed  out  the  obstacles  to  a  final 
settlement,  resulted  in  an  Act  which  is  now 
removing  this  perennial  cause  of  trouble.  With 
this  encouragement,  it  is  not  too  much  to  hope 
that  an  informal  interchange  of  views  between 
leaders  of  thought  in  Ireland,  animated  by  a 
sincere  desire  to  solve  the  problem,  and  fairly 
representing  different  sections  of  the  religious 
world,  assisted  by  experienced  educationists, 
might  result  in  some  basis  of  agreement  leading 
up  to  a  settlement  satisfying  the  urgent  needs 
of  Ireland,  and  doing  violence  to  the  conscience 
of  no  man. 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  137 


CHAPTER  VII. 

IRELAND'S  NEEDS  :  THE  PROGRAMME  OF  THE 
IRISH  REFORM  ASSOCIATION. 

THE  Irish  Reform  Association  was  established 
in  the  hope  of  assisting  to  solve  some  at  least 
of  those  problems  in  Irish  affairs  most  urgently 
demanding  solution.  The  end  in  view  is  that 
Ireland  should  become  the  home  of  a  contented 
people,  and  a  valuable  asset  of  the  Empire.  It 
appears  to  be  generally  supposed  that  its  efforts 
are  confined  to  reforms  of  a  legislative  or 
administrative  character.  That  is  not  the  case. 
The  platform  is  a  broad  one.  Amendment  of 
the  system  of  government  is  advocated,  because 
it  is  in  itself  desirable,  and  because  without  it 
necessary  social  and  economic  reforms  cannot 
have  fair  play  and  produce  their  full  results.  To 
generalize,  we  aim  at  reform  in  four  directions : — 

(1)  We  desire  to  create  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  of   Great   Britain  a  truer  conception  of 
the  social  and  economic  needs  and  requirements 
of  Ireland,  and  of  the  duty  of  "the  predominant 
partner"  towards  her. 

(2)  We  advocate  the  adoption  of  an  honest, 
friendly  attitude  on  the  part  of  Ireland  towards 
Great  Britain. 


138         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

(3)  We  hope  to  instil  among  Irishmen  a  truer 
conception  of  their  duty  towards  each  other  and 
their  common  country. 

(4)  We  press  for  such  a  change  in  the  system 
of   government   as   will    enable    the    people   of 
Ireland  to  take  an  active  and  intelligent  interest 
in  financial  administration,  and  in  the  manage- 
ment of  their  own  affairs. 

We  claim  to  be  truly  national  as  regards 
Ireland ;  and  national,  also,  in  the  larger 
sense  as  regards  the  United  Kingdom  and  the 
whole  Empire.  The  United  Kingdom  is  the 
heart  of  the  Empire.  With  Ireland  discon- 
tented, decaying,  and  despondent,  the  heart 
cannot  be  sound ;  and  we  appeal  to  all  those 
whose  ideal  is  the  permanence  and  progress  of 
the  Empire,  to  find  a  remedy  for  the  disease 
gnawing  at  its  core.  It  has  been  insinuated,  and 
insinuated  so  strongly  as  to  amount  to  an  asser- 
tion, that,  while  pretending  to  be  Unionists  and 
in  favour  of  the  Union,  we  are  really  Repealers 
'in  disguise  ;  and  this  in  face  of  the  fact  that  in 
the  forefront  of  our  proposals  we  have  stated,  as 
plainly  as  words  can  express  it,  our  belief  that 
the  Parliamentary  Union  between  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  is  essential  to  the  political  stability 
of  the  Empire  and  to  the  prosperity  of  the  two 
islands.  We  mean  exactly  what  we  have  said. 
We  support  the  Union,  and  because  we  support 
the  Union  we  desire  to  make  the  Union  justify 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  139 

itself  by  results.  To  understand  our  position,  a 
true  conception  of  the  situation  must  be  formed. 
It  is,  I  think,  currently  supposed  that  the  Act 
of  Union  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  was 
the  final  phase  in  a  long,  gradual  process  of 
amalgamation  which  had  been  going  on  for 
centuries,  and  that,  since  the  Act  of  Union,  no 
discrimination  can  be  made  between  the  circum- 
stances and  conditions  under  which  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Ireland  and  the  inhabitants  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  Wales  live,  and  move,  and  have 
their  being,  so  far,  at  any  rate,  as  legislation  and 
administration  are  concerned.  Such  is  not  the 
case.  By  the  Act  of  Union  the  two  Legislatures 
were  amalgamated  ;  and  shortly  afterwards  the 
two  Exchequers  were  made  one  ;  but  amalgama- 
tion was  not  the  result  of  a  natural  movement 
towards  unification,  nor  did  it  produce  unification 
in  the  sense,  or  to  the  extent,  that  occurred  when, 
for  instance,  the  several  independent  or  semi- 
independent  States  that  once  constituted  what  is 
now  France,  or  Great  Britain,  gradually  merged 
themselves  into  one  homogeneous  whole.  Funda- 
mental differences  precluded  and  preclude  fusion 
into  one  community.  Why  these  differences 
exist,  we  need  not  stop  to  consider.  There  they 
have  ever  been  ;  there  they  are  ;  and  there  they 
will  remain.  Ireland  differentiates.  It  may  be 
due  to  distinctive  characteristics  of  race ;  to 
peculiarities  of  climate  or  soil ;  or  to  the  fact 


I4O  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

that  the  islands  are  divided  by  a  narrow  but 
inconveniently  boisterous  sea.  The  cause  is 
immaterial ;  the  fact  is  material,  and  must  be 
recognized.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
neither  party  to  the  transaction  ventured  to 
assume  that  Legislative  Union  signified  racial 
fusion  or  national  absorption.  On  the  contrary, 
it  was  admitted  on  both  sides  that  differences 
existed,  and  would  continue  to  exist,  sufficiently 
wide  to  demand  differential  treatment  for  their 
adjustment.  This  is  an  important  point,  because 
the  neglect  of  the  principle  of  exceptional  treat- 
ment is  the  cause  of  many  of  those  evils  which 
have  conspired  to  make  the  Union  conspicuous 
as  a  failure  so  far  as  the  health  and  well-being 
of  Ireland  are  concerned. 

The  Irish  Reform  Association  is  profoundly 
dissatisfied  with  the  present  anomalous  position 
of  Ireland.  Neither  Irishmen  nor  Englishmen 
can  ignore  the  fact  that,  since  the  Legislative 
Union,  Ireland  has  not  prospered.  During  the 
last  half  century  and  more,  every  civilized  com- 
munity in  Europe  has  been  progressive.  Great 
Britain  has  advanced  enormously,  and,  in  the 
same  period,  Ireland  has  been  going  to  decay. 
It  is  true,  I  am  thankful  to  say,  that  of  late — 
that  is,  in  the  last  three  or  four  years — slight 
symptoms  of  a  healthier  state  of  things  in 
Ireland  have  manifested  themselves  ;  but,  judging 
by  all  the  most  valid  proofs — the  increase  or 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  141 

decrease  of  population,  the  increase  or  decrease 
of  manufacturing  industries,  the  increase  or 
decrease  of  productiveness  generally,  the  mar- 
riage-rate, the  birth-rate,  and  all  other  such  tests 
— while  Great  Britain  and  every  community  in 
Europe  have  been  going  forward,  Ireland  alone 
has  been  falling  back.  That  fact  does  not 
present  a  pleasant  theme  for  contemplation.  It 
is  enough  to  give  Irishmen  and  Englishmen 
pause.  To  what  is  to  be  attributed  this  terrible 
decay?  Many  Irishmen  say  it  is  due  to  the 
Union,  because  it  has  taken  place  since  the 
Union.  On  that  hypothesis  the  Irish  Reform 
Association,  though  it  may  be  right  in  asserting 
that  the  Legislative  Union  is  necessary  for  the 
stability  of  the  Empire,  and  for  the  prosperity 
of  Great  Britain,  must  be  wrong  in  claiming 
that  it  is  also  necessary  for  the  prosperity  of 
Ireland.  That  is  a  disagreeable  dilemma  to 
face.  It  must  be  intensely  painful  for  any 
Irishman,  however  strong  his  Unionist  opinions 
may  be,  to  be  forced  to  admit  that,  though 
the  Union  is  necessary  for  the  Empire  and 
for  Great  Britain,  it  is  harmful  to  Ireland,  and 
that  Ireland  must  be  sacrificed  to  the  require- 
ments of  Great  Britain  and  the  Empire.  No  such 
dilemma  really  exists  ;  the  argument  is  based  on 
a  wrong  interpretation  of  the  facts.  Decay  is  not 
due  to  legislative  Union.  It  is  due  to  excessive 
centralization — to  a  false  conception  of  the 


142        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

relations  that  should  exist  between  the  two 
contracting  parties ;  and  it  is  traceable  to  many 
causes  which  have  occurred,  it  is  true,  since  the 
Union,  but  which  are  not  necessarily  consequent 
upon  the  Union,  and  which  would  never  have 
produced  such  lamentable  results  had  the  spirit 
of  the  Union  been  wisely  interpreted  and 
honestly  carried  out.  It  is  the  duty  of  all,  and 
especially  of  all  Unionists,  to  endeavour  to 
find  out  the  causes  of  Ireland's  decay,  and,  by 
remedying  and  removing  those  causes,  to  make 
the  Union  justify  itself  in  its  results. 

What  is  necessary  to  enable  the  Union  to 
justify  itself?  The  answer  lies  in  the  frank 
acknowledgment  of  an  underlying  principle  of 
the  Union.  That  contract  contemplated  and 
stipulated  for  exceptional  treatment  for  Ireland 
under  exceptional  circumstances.  Such  circum- 
stances existed  even  at  the  time  of  the  Union  ; 
but  during  the  past  century  many  causes  have 
become  operative  which  have  intensified  the  need 
of  exceptional  treatment  to  a  degree  that  could 
not  have  been  dreamed  of  when  the  contract  was 
signed.  No  satisfaction  has  been  given  to 
that  need.  On  the  contrary,  Ireland  has  been 
deprived  of  the  small  modicum  of  relief  she  once 
enjoyed.  The  spirit  of  the  Union  has  not  been 
carried  out. 

Up  to  about  1858,  the  principle  of  exceptional 
treatment  was  recognized  to  a  certain  practical 


143 

extent,  and  in  theory  it  is  recognized  even  now. 
Ireland  did  not  pay  the  same  taxes  as  Great 
Britain.  Until  1853,  the  excise  duties  were 
lower  in  Ireland  than  in  Great  Britain,  and  no 
income  tax  was  levied  in  the  former  country. 
The  spirit  duties  were  gradually  brought  up  to 
the  same  level.  It  is  quite  conceivable  that  the 
inconvenience  arising  from  different  duties,  the 
necessity  for  custom-houses,  &c.,  was  so  great 
as  to  make  equalization  of  the  duties  neces- 
sary ;  but  when  that  was  done  for  the  sake  of 
convenience,  Ireland  ought  to  have  been  given 
an  equivalent  advantage  in  some  other  way. 
The  income  tax  is  perhaps  a  stronger  case.  No 
excuse  whatever  on  the  ground  of  convenience 
can  be  claimed  for  imposing  the  income  tax  on 
Ireland.  It  was  imposed  in  1853  for  a  limited 
number  of  years  in  order  to  balance  a  debt  of 
just  under  four  millions  incurred  mainly  in 
relieving  the  poor  during  the  great  famine  ;  but 
it  has  remained  ever  since,  and  is  raised  for 
revenue  purposes  only.  No  man  in  his  senses 
can  pretend  to  say  that  the  increase  in  excise 
duties  and  the  imposition  of  income  tax  were 
justified  by  any  increase  in  the  taxable  capacity 
of  Ireland.  It  is  not  arguable  that  the  changes 
were  necessary  in  order  to  equalize  the  burden 
between  the  two  islands.  They  constituted  a 
deliberate  breach  of  the  spirit  of  the  Union,  and 
cannot  be  justified. 


144        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

It  will,  I  think,  be  conceded  that,  according 
to  their  relative  capacity  to  bear  taxation,  the 
inhabitants  of  Ireland  are  grievously  overtaxed 
as  compared  with  the  people  of  Great  Britain. 
The  weight  of  taxation  upon  Ireland1  has 
increased  enormously  of  late  years.  It  may  be 
argued  that  the  increase  is  general  over  the 
whole  United  Kingdom,  and  equally  affects 
Great  Britain.  That  is  true,  but  to  a  certain 
extent  only.  The  burden  is  the  same,  but  it 
is  not  equally  distributed.  In  one  case  it  is 
carried  with  ease  by  broader  shoulders ;  in  the 
other,  it  is  borne  with  difficulty  by  a  weakened 
frame.  The  increase  in  Great  Britain  has  been 
coincident  with  an  increase  in  population,  in 
prosperity,  in  accumulated  wealth,  and  in  power 
to  bear  taxation.  In  Ireland  it  has  been  coinci- 
dent with  a  great  diminution  in  population, 
amounting  to  nearly  four  millions  in  the  past 
century,  and  without  any  counter-balancing 
increase  in  accumulated  wealth,  in  prosperity, 
or  in  capacity  to  bear  taxation.  The  growth  of 
taxation  in  Great  Britain  has  been  nothing  in 
comparison  with  the  increase  in  Ireland. 

Ireland  is  grievously  overtaxed,  strangled  by 
taxation.  Relief  must  be  sought  for  in  one  or 
two  ways — reduced  taxation,  or  increased  capa- 
city to  bear  taxation.  The  former  method  may 
be  impossible ;  the  latter  is  certainly  possible. 

lVide  Appendix  II. 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  145 

Ireland  needs  development.  She  is  forced  to 
live  beyond  her  means.  A  balance  should  be 
arrived  at  rather  by  increasing  her  means  than 
by  diminishing  her  expenditure.  Remission  of 
taxation  might  be  good ;  but  that  Ireland  should 
become  able  to  bear  taxation  would  be  infinitely 
better.  She  wants  employment,  and  she  needs 
money  to  develop  the  country.  Questions  con- 
nected with  main-drainage,  the  improvement  of 
harbours,  cheap  transit,  equitable  adjustment  of 
local  rates — all  these,  but  especially  the  question 
of  transit,  ought  to  be  considered  by  Govern- 
ment, and  wisely  and  generously  dealt  with  as 
occasion  serves.  I  am  not  claiming  the  imme- 
diate large  advance  of  public  money  ;  the  public 
credit  has  been  but  lately  given  with  an  open 
hand  ;  but  I  plead  for  the  recognition  and,  in 
season,  for  the  application  in  other  directions,  of 
the  principle  animating  the  Land  Act  of  1903. 
A  little  dole  here  and  a  little  dole  there  are  not 
sufficient.  Ireland  is  entitled  to  claim  that  a 
large  and  comprehensive  view  should  be  taken 
of  her  condition.  Capital  should  be  applied 
where  it  can  be  applied  with  advantage.  Ireland 
should  be  looked  upon  as  what,  in  fact,  she  is — 
a  poor  corner  of  the  estate  to  be  made  profitable 
by  the  wise  development  of  resources  and  capa- 
bilities latent  in  it. 

The  Irish  Reform  Association  appeal  to  the 
sense  of  justice  and  to  the  prudence  of  the  people 


146  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

of  Great  Britain.  We  ask  them  to  recognize  the 
disadvantages  under  which  Ireland  suffers,  and 
to  formulate  for  their  general  guidance  a  wider 
and  truer  conception  both  of  the  economic  needs 
of  the  country,  and  of  the  methods  by  which 
those  needs  may  be  satisfactorily  dealt  with. 
We  would  remind  them  that,  in  a  sense  and  to 
an  extent  without  parallel  in  the  history  of  any 
country,  the  taxpayers  in  Great  Britain  are  now 
partners  in  the  industrial  life  of  the  Irish  people, 
and  that  it  is  to  their  direct  advantage  that  that 
industrial  life  should  not  decay,  and  their  security 
become  impaired.  A  wiser  estimate  of  duty  on 
the  part  of  "  the  predominant  partner "  is  the 
first  of  the  reforms  at  which  we  aim. 

Ireland  has  a  past  which  is  gloomy ;  but  she 
may  have  a  future  bright  with  hopes  of  increasing 
happiness  and  prosperity,  if  she  will  adopt  a 
reasonable  and  friendly  attitude  towards  Great 
Britain.  Englishmen  freely  admit  that  behind 
all  the  trouble  there  lies  a  dark  page  in  the 
history  of  Ireland  for  which  they  are  respon- 
sible. They  frankly  acknowledge  that  Ireland 
has  not  had  fair  play.  They  are  anxious  to 
atone  for  the  past,  ready  to  relieve  legitimate 
grievances,  desirous  of  effecting  a  permanent 
settlement  of  outstanding  questions,  willing  that 
Ireland  should  have  fair  play  in  the  future ; 
but  they  not  unreasonably  expect  that  Ireland 
should  devote  her  best  energies  honestly  to 


147 

assisting  them  in  the  good  work  of  repairing  the 
errors  of  former  days. 

Parliament  and  the  country  are  sick  and  tired 
of  all  the  wrangles  of  past  years.  The  King's 
peace  and  law  and  order  must  be  maintained ; 
but  the  English  conscience  vibrates  to  facts,  and 
under  the  true  and  growing  conviction  that  at 
the  root  of  trouble  are  practical  grievances 
that  can  be  remedied,  and  that  unreasonable 
prejudice  on  the  part  of  a  few  irreconcilables 
must  not  block  the  way,  it  will  insist  upon  en- 
deavouring to  secure  peace  by  peaceful  means : 
it  will  no  longer  rely  upon  coercive  measures 
alone. 

The  English  people  desire  to  do  justice,  but 
not  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  nor  because  they 
are  threatened  with  a  stab  in  the  back.  Ireland 
asks  for  more  power  to  deal  with  her  own  affairs. 
Does  it  not  stand  to  reason  that  the  extent  of 
concession  must  depend  largely  upon  the  uses  to 
be  made  of  the  power  conceded  ?  The  attitude 
of  undying,  unreasoning  hostility  towards  Great 
Britain  is  greatly  to  be  deplored.  An  honestly 
friendly  attitude  towards  Great  Britain  is  the 
second  of  our  reforms. 

Ireland  needs  assistance  in  many  ways.  Can 
she  complain  that  she  does  not  get  the  necessary 
help  from  others  when  she  has  not  yet  learned 
to  help  herself  ?  To  an  Ireland  really  united, 
everything  in  reason  is  possible ;  to  an  Ireland 


148  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

divided  into  bitterly  hostile  camps,  little  is 
possible.  What  can  be  done  by  united  action 
is  proved  by  the  Land  Act  of  1903 — the  greatest 
remedial  measure  ever  passed  for  Ireland.  It 
lies  with  Irishmen  to  deal  with  other  problems 
in  the  spirit  that  rendered  possible  the  Land 
Conference  Report,  and  to  work  together  for  the 
salvation  of  their  native  land,  putting  aside  those 
personal  jealousies,  those  class  animosities,  that 
sectarian  bitterness,  that  neutralize  their  efforts. 
And  why  can  they  not  ?  There  may  be  points 
upon  which  they  can  never  agree.  If  that  be  so, 
well,  on  those  points  let  them  agree  to  differ. 
On  many  points,  and  points  vital  to  the  country, 
they  can,  perhaps  with  some  little  mutual  self- 
sacrifice,  come  to  an  agreement ;  and  for  the 
sake  of  humanity  and  their  common  country, 
they  should  do  so. 

So  averse  from  concerted  action  and  from 
remedial  measures  do  some  curiously-minded 
people  appear  to  be  that  it  seems  as  though  they 
feared  that  if  religious  and  class  animosities  died 
down,  and  Ireland  became  peaceful  and  con- 
tented, her  sense  of  nationality  would  wane. 
National  sentiment  does  not  rest  on  so  poor  a 
basis.  It  does  not  depend  upon  the  irritant  of 
grievances  unredressed.  No  scheme  for  the 
settlement  of  the  just  claims  of  the  Irish  people 
will  ever  bridge  the  broad  waters  which  flow 
between  the  two  islands.  Nor  are  the  Irish  so 


149 

disloyal  to  the  traditions  of  the  past,  nor  so  little 
ambitious  for  the  future,  as  to  suffer  Ireland 
under  any  circumstances  to  lose  her  own  special 
charms  of  nature,  customs,  language,  literature, 
and  art.  A  prosperous  Ireland  would  become 
more  Irish  from  year  to  year  ;  with  increasing 
hope  in  the  future,  the  nation  would  take  more 
and  more  pride  in  all  that  is  best  in  its  past.  If 
people  of  all  classes  and  creeds  in  Ireland  would 
only  understand  how  anxious  "  the  predominant 
partner  "is  to  bury  the  hatchet  and  heal  the 
sores  of  past  years — how  desirous  England  is  to 
be  met  half-way — they  would  realize  that  now  is 
the  chance,  now  is  the  golden  opportunity,  if  they 
will  only  seize  it,  to  work  together,  to  put  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheel  to  lift  their  country  out 
of  the  labouring  rut,  and  place  her  upon  the 
smooth  path  of  prosperity  and  peace.  A  truer 
conception  of  the  duty  of  Irishmen  towards 
each  other  and  towards  Ireland  is  the  third 
reform  for  which  the  Irish  Reform  Association 
is  determined  to  strive.  What  stands  in  the 
way?  Politics  alone.  And  that  leads  to  the 
consideration  of  the  fourth  reform  we  advocate, 
namely,  reform  of  the  system  of  government  in 
Ireland. 

The  present  system  is  peculiar,  if  not  unique. 
It  consists  of  a  Lord  Lieutenant  and  General 
Governor,  who  is  theoretically  supreme,  but  who 
has  practically  no  power  whatever  except  over 


I5O  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

the  police  and  the  administration  of  justice.  He 
wields  the  policeman's  baton,  and  very  little  else. 
Powerful  to  punish  the  people,  he  is  powerless  to 
help,  assist,  lead,  or  encourage  them.  He  is 
assisted  by  his  Chief  Secretary,  who  represents 
him  in  Parliament.  The  Chief  Secretary  has 
control  over  some  departments ;  over  other  de- 
partments he  has  partial  control  ;  and  over 
others,  again,  he  exercises  no  control  at  all.  If 
the  Lord  Lieutenant  is  in  the  Cabinet,  the  Chief 
Secretary  is  not  in  the  Cabinet,  and  he  may  be 
placed  in  the  disagreeable  position  of  having  to 
explain  a  policy  or  action  of  which  he  knows 
nothing,  and  regarding  which  he  was  not  con- 
sulted. If  the  Chief  Secretary  is  in  the  Cabinet, 
the  Lord  Lieutenant  is  not,  and  he  becomes 
more  than  ever  virtually  a  figure-head,  with  very 
little  power  or  control  over  policy  or  administra- 
tion. These  appointments  being  political,  it 
follows  that  the  government  of  the  country  is 
continually  placed  in  the  hands  of  gentlemen 
who  know  nothing  at  all  about  Ireland  or 
Ireland's  needs,  and  that  as  soon  as  they  begin 
to  know  something  they  disappear,  and  their 
knowledge  with  them. 

The  affairs  of  the  country  are  administered  by 
numerous  departments.  Some  of  them  are  fed 
by  money  voted  by  Parliament ;  others,  partially 
at  any  rate — and  some  to  a  large  extent — obtain 
supplies  straight  from  the  Consolidated  Fund  or 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  151 

from  other  sources  which  render  them  indepen- 
dent of  Parliamentary  control.  In  the  first  case, 
it  is  just  possible  that  the  money  provided  may 
come  under  the  criticism,  and  to  a  very  slight 
extent  under  the  influence,  of  the  Irish  Members 
of  Parliament.  But,  in  the  other  cases,  neither 
the  Irish  Members  of  Parliament  nor  any  other 
Members  of  Parliament  have  any  control  over 
the  money.1  There  is  no  sort  of  co-ordination 
among  the  various  departments.  They  do  not 
even  know  themselves  where  their  functions 
begin  and  where  they  end  ;  they  overlap  each 
other  in  all  directions.  It  is  the  duty  of  one 
department  to  clean  the  outside  of  a  window, 
and  the  duty  of  another  department  to  clean  the 
inside,  with  the  not  unnatural  result  that  the 
window  is  not  cleaned  at  all.  There  is  no 
inter-departmental  division  of  labour.  Three  or 
four  departments,  each  with  its  separate  staff, 
are  engaged  in  precisely  the  same  work.  As 
a  result  of  an  inquiry  into  what  is  known  as 
"Castle  Government"  in  Ireland,  The  Nationalist 
printed  (January  nth,  1906)  the  following 

1  Irish  Departments   are  fed,  in   round   figures,  from   the 
following  sources  : — 

(1)  ^£200,000  from  the  Consolidated  Fund. 

(2)  ;£i, 500,000  from  the  Local  Taxation  Account. 

(3)  ^4>5°°>000  from  Parliamentary  votes,  specifically  Irish. 

(4)  ;£*> 500,000    from    Parliamentary    votes    included    in 

English  votes. 


152  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

instructive  list  of  the  various  offices  concerned 
in  the  control  of  affairs  in  that  island : — 

Located  in  Dublin  Castle  itself,  we  find  the  following  sepa- 
rate Departments  : — 

1.  The  Lord  Lieutenant's  Household. 

2.  The  Chief  Secretary's  Office. 

3.  The  State  Paper  Department. 

4.  The  Office  of  Arms. 

5.  The  Treasury  Remembrancer's  Office. 

6.  The  National  School  Teachers'  Superannuation  Office. 

7.  The  Board  of  Conservators  of  Fisheries. 

8.  The  Department  of  Registrar  of  Petty  Sessions  Clerks. 

9.  The  General  Prisons  Board. 

10.  Office  of  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools. 

1 1 .  Office  of  Inspectors  of  Lunatic  Asylums. 

12.  Public  Loan  Fund  Board. 

13.  The  Royal  Irish  Constabulary  Office. 

14.  The  Dublin  Metropolitan  Police  Office. 

In  the  Custom  House,  which  was  built  by  an  Irish  Parlia- 
ment for  the  growing  commerce  of  a  prosperous  nation,  there 
are  now  installed  the  following  Departments  of  the  Govern- 
ment : — 

15.  The  Local  Government  Board. 

16.  The  Board  of  Trade. 

17.  The  Customs. 

18.  The  Inland  Revenue: — 

(a)  Stamp  and  Tax  Department. 

(b)  Excise  Department. 

(c)  Estate  Duty  Office. 

19.  The  Stationery  Office. 

So  wonderful  was  the  expansion  of  the  Castle  Board  system 
during  the  past  half  century — while  the  emigrant  ships  were 
bearing  away  the  people  at  the  rate  of  a  million  a  decade — that 
the  Castle  and  Custom  House  could  no  longer  house  them, 
and  a  "  plantation  "  of  new  Departments  was  effected  in  recent 
times  in  the  vicinity  of  Merrion  Square,  where  they  have 


IRELAND  S   NEEDS.  153 

invaded  the  splendid  old  residential  quarters  of  the  Irish 
nobility  and  gentry  in  Upper  Merrion  Street,  Ely  Place,  and 
Hume  Street.  In  this  quarter  are  settled  : — 

20.  The  Intermediate  Education  Board. 

2 1 .  The  General  Valuation  and  Boundary  Survey  Office. 

22.  The  Board  of  Public  Works. 

23.  The  Civil  Service  Committee  (Branch  Office). 

24.  The  Irish  Land  Commission. 

25.  ,,  Estates  Commissioners. 

26.  „  Office  of  Public  Trustee. 

27.  The  National  Gallery. 

28.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Technical  Instruc- 

tion, with  its  affiliated  Departments,  viz. : — 

29.  The  Irish  Fisheries  Office. 

30.  The  Veterinary  Department. 

31.  The  College  of  Science. 

32.  The  School  of  Art. 

33.  The  Science  and  Art  Museum. 

34.  The  National  Library. 

Occupying  other  former  town  residences  of  the  Irish  nobility 
in  various  parts  of  the  city  are  found  : — 

35.  The  Board  of  National  Education. 

36.  The  General  Register  Office. 

37.  The  Congested  Districts  Board. 

38.  The  Registry  of  Deeds. 

To  this  already  lengthy  list  have  still  to  be  added  : — 

39.  The  Post  Office  Department. 

40.  The  Irish  Branch  of  the  Geological  Survey. 

41.  The    Commissioners    of    Charitable     Donations    and 

Bequests. 

42.  The  Commissioners  of  Education  in  Ireland.     (This 

Department  is  not  the  same  as  No.  35.) 

43.  The  Ordnance  Survey  of  Ireland. 

44.  Office  of  Inspectors  of  Factories. 

45.  War  Office,  Auditor's  Office. 

46.  Royal  Naval  Reserve  Office. 


154  THE    OUTLOOK   IN    IRELAND. 

47.  The  Woods  and  Forests  Office. 

48.  The  Public  Record  Office. 

49.  Joint  Stock  Companies  Registry  Office. 

50.  The  Registry  of  Friendly  Societies. 

51.  Office  of  the  Royal  University. 

52.  The  Commissioners  of  Irish  Lights. 

Any  survey  of  the  waste  and  extravagance  of  Irish  adminis- 
tration would  not  be  complete  without  a  glance  at  the  Four 
Courts.  Here  we  find  the  following  separate  Departments, 
each  with  its  own  costly  staff : — 

53.  The  Lunacy  Department. 

54.  Crown  and  Hanaper  Office. 

55.  Local  Registration  of  Title  Office. 

56.  Record  and  Writ  Office. 

57.  Consolidated  Taxing  Office. 

58.  Consolidated  Accounting  Office. 

59.  The  Chancery  Registrar's  Office. 

60.  Principal  Registry  Offices  of  Probate. 

61.  King's  Bench  Division  Office. 

62.  Lord  Chancellor's  Court. 

63.  Master  of  the  Rolls'  Court. 

64.  Chancery  Division  Court. 

65.  Land  Judge's  Court. 

66.  Bankruptcy  Court. 

67.  Admiralty  Court. 

These  sixty-seven  Departments  constitute  the  Civil  adminis- 
tration of  Ireland.  Among  the  numerous  military  Departments 
in  the  capital  may  be  enumerated  the  Headquarters  Office, 
Kilmainham,  the  Army  Ordnance  Department,  the  Army 
Medical  Staff,  the  Army  Pay  Department,  and  the  Army 
Veterinary  Department. 

Every  poor  little  project  has  to  struggle 
through  a  line  of  departments  ;  and,  if  it  runs  the 
gauntlet  successfully,  is  probably  clubbed  on  the 
head  at  the  finish  by  an  omnipotent  Treasury 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  155 

clerk  in  London.  The  great  spending  depart- 
ments, like  the  Board  of  Works,  are,  so  far  as 
small  matters  are  concerned,  under  the  control  of 
Treasury  clerks  in  London — estimable  persons, 
but  knowing  nothing  about  Ireland,  and  occupy- 
ing themselves  writing  volumes  of  folios  about 
the  wages  of  a  charwoman,  the  price  of  a  pot  of 
paint,  and  many  little  details  of  that  kind.  As 
regards  large  expenditure,  the  Department  is 
entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  heads  of  the 
Treasury.  The  Board  of  Works  and  other 
departments  in  similar  cases  do  not  in  any  way 
come  under  the  direct  influence  of  the  Irish 
people  in  Ireland ;  nor  do  they  come  under  the 
influence,  control,  or  criticism  of  the  representa- 
tives in  the  Imperial  Parliament  of  Irish  consti- 
tuencies. Practically  they  are  solely  responsible 
to  the  Treasury.  That  is  to  say,  Irish  affairs 
are  conducted,  and  money  voted  for  Irish 
purposes  is  administered,  by  departments  in 
Dublin  which  are  responsible  only  to  another 
department  in  London.  The  amount  expended 
on  salaries  and  pensions  appears  dispropor- 
tionately large.  It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the 
exact  facts  as  to  staff  and  salaries,  as,  in  many 
cases,  the  money  required  is  not  charged  upon 
the  votes ;  but,  judging  by  the  votes,  salaries 
form  a  large  item  in  Irish  expenditure.  In  the 
estimates  for  1905,  the  sums  placed  upon 
twenty-six  Irish  votes  amounted  to  about  four 


156  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

and  a  half  millions,  of  which  about  three  millions 
were  for  salaries  and  pensions. 

It  is  difficult  to  describe  what  is  commonly 
called  "  Castle  Government."  It  is  easier  to 
say  what  it  is  not  than  what  it  is.  It  is  not  a 
democratic  form  of  government,  for  the  people 
have  nothing  to  say  to  it,  either  through  some 
representative  machinery  in  Dublin,  or  through 
their  representatives  at  Westminster.  It  is  not 
a  despotism,  because  the  Lord  Lieutenant  has 
very  little  power.  It  is  not  exactly  an  oligarchy, 
though  a  small  but  avaricious  section  of  the 
community  appear  to  think  that  the  country 
should  be  run  for  their  benefit  alone. 

It  is  a  sort,  and  a  very  bad  sort,  of  bureaucracy 
— a  government  by  departments  in  Ireland 
uncontrolled  by  Parliament,  uncontrolled  by  any 
public  body  in  Ireland,  subject  only  to  a  depart- 
ment in  London.  For  this  anomalous  and 
grotesque  system  Ireland  pays  dearly.  It  is  the 
most  expensive  system  of  government  in  the 
world.  Head  for  head,  the  government  of 
Ireland  costs  more  than  the  government  of  any 
civilized  community  on  the  whole  face  of  the 
earth.  Under  it  there  is  no  security  whatever 
against  absolute  waste  and  misapplication  of 
money ;  no  security  against  the  indirect  extrava- 
gance that  arises  from  money  not  being  spent  in 
the  best  direction  or  in  the  wisest  way.  Against 
this  abominable  system,  the  Irish  Reform  Associa- 
tion protest. 


IRELAND  S   NEEDS. 


157 


That  a  great  saving  of  expenditure  can  be 
effected  is  certain.  The  Government  in  Ireland 
is  carried  out  through  a  number  of  departments 
which  do  not  represent,  and  are  not  in  the 
remotest  degree  under  the  control  of,  those  who 
are  governed.  Year  by  year  the  expenditure 
proceeds  at  an  extravagant  rate  despite  the  pro- 
tests of  the  Irish  people ;  and  in  such  circum- 
stances surely  it  is  unfair  to  taunt  them  with  the 
fact  that  the  balance  of  revenue  available  for 
Imperial  purposes  is  very  small. 

The  latest  available  figures  from  the  Report  of 
the  Commissioners  of  His  Majesty's  Inland 
Revenue  throw  some  light  upon  the  cost  of 
government  in  Ireland,  as  a  glance  at  the  follow- 
ing table  will  show  : — 

TABLE  showing  for  each  part  of  the  United  Kingdom  the 
Number  of  Assessments  and  the  Gross  Income  Assessed  on 
Government  Officials  for  the  year  1904-5. 


England, 
Total. 

Scotland. 

Ireland. 

United 
Kingdom. 

Number    of  Assess- 

ments    ... 
Gross  Income 

74,272 

;£  20,995,  1  79 

940 

£301-075 

£1,028,844 

78,006 
£22,325,098 

It  will  be  seen  that  Ireland,  with  the  same 
population  approximately  as  Scotland,  is  blessed 
with  2,794  Government  officials  in  comparison 
with  940  in  Scotland ;  and  that  the  total  pay- 
ment in  Ireland  for  Government  officials  assess- 
able to  income  tax  amounts  to  over  £1,000,000 


158        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

per  year,  while  in  Scotland  the  gross  outlay  is 
about  £300,000.  Ireland  has,  as  compared  with 
Scotland,  the  privilege  of  entertaining  many 
more  Government  officials,  and  of  paying  a  good 
deal  more  per  head  for  them. 

The  ex-Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  dismissed 
the  subject  of  Ireland's  overtaxation  with  the 
taunt  that  Ireland  contributes  but  little  to 
Imperial  expenditure.  Ireland  cries  aloud  and 
bitterly  that  she  is  choked  and  smothered  under 
taxation  altogether  beyond  her  capacity  to  pay. 
And  what  is  the  cause  of  both  complaints  ?  A 
scandalously  extravagant  system  of  financial 
administration,  and  the  divorce  of  the  people 
from  the  conduct  of  their  own  affairs.  To  insist 
on  burdening  Ireland  with  a  system  of  govern- 
ment the  most  expensive  in  the  world,  the  most 
irresponsible,  and  the  least  reflective  of  the  wishes 
of  the  people  of  the  country ;  to  refuse  to  allow 
public  opinion  to  be  brought  to  bear  upon  depart- 
mental administration,  to  deny  the  people  the 
right  to  make  economies,  and  to  devote  the  pro- 
ceeds to  the  needs  of  the  population  and  the 
development  of  the  country,  appears  to  me  a 
policy  fatuous,  irrational,  and  incompatible  with 
the  democratic  spirit  of  the  form  of  government 
under  which  we  live. 

The  non-political  propositions  of  the  Irish 
Reform  Association  are  not  likely  to  meet 
with  serious  disapproval.  The  advantages  of 


IRELAND  S    NEEDS.  159 

a  truer  conception  of  Ireland's  needs  on  the 
part  of  "the  predominant  partner,"  of  a  con- 
ciliatory spirit  between  the  partners,  and  of 
co-operation  for  useful  purposes  among  Irish- 
men will  be  gainsaid  only  by  those  whose 
conception  of  nationality  is  the  narrow  one 
of  class,  or  whose  ideal  of  statecraft  is  to  keep 
Ireland  in  a  condition  of  perpetual  turmoil 
and  unrest.  It  is  round  the  proposals  for  poli- 
tical reform  put  forward  by  the  Irish  Reform 
Association  that  the  conflict  of  opinions  has 
arisen.  The  question  which  I  commend  to  the 
earnest  consideration  of  all  moderate  men,  and 
especially  of  Unionists,  is — Are  those  proposals, 
not  viewed  in  detail,  but  judged  of  by  the 
general  principles  underlying  them,  calculated 
to  offer  a  reasonable  solution  of  some  Irish 
problems  and  difficulties;  and,  if  so,  are  they 
also  compatible  with  the  maintenance  of 
Parliamentary  Union  ? 

The  existing  system  of  Private  Bill  Pro- 
cedure deprives  Parliament  of  a  great  deal  of 
local  knowledge  necessary  to  enable  it  to  arrive  at 
wise  and  just  decisions  ;  and  being  inconvenient, 
cumbrous,  and  most  expensive,  it  frequently  acts 
as  a  deterrent,  instead  of  an  encouragement,  to 
municipal,  commercial,  and  industrial  enterprises. 
No  man  conversant  with  business  and  commercial 
undertakings  will  dispute  these  facts.  It  will  be 
universally  admitted  that  some  authority  should 


l6o        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

be  established  to  deal  in  Ireland  with  Private 
Bills  originating  there.  On  this  point  the  Irish 
Reform  Association  has  made  suggestions  which 
may  or  may  not  be  the  best  possible.1 

All  that  that  body  maintains  is  that  the  reform 
which  was  some  time  ago  granted  to  Scotland 
should  be  granted  to  Ireland.  Ireland  should 
not  be  put  to  the  enormous  expense  incurred  in 
Private  Bill  Procedure  as  it  now  exists. 

The  Irish  Reform  Association  desires  also  to 
see  a  delegation  of  legislative  functions  to  an 
Irish  body.  It  may  be  asked  why  this  devolu- 
tion is  suggested  ;  but  surely  the  reasons  are 
obvious.  In  the  first  place,  the  change  is  neces- 
sary because  the  Imperial  Parliament  is  in- 
capable of  conducting  all  the  business  which 
comes  before  it.  From  pressure  of  work 
Parliament  disposes  of  many  millions  of  money 
practically  without  discussion.  It  is  forced 
either  to  spend  a  great  deal  of  time  on  small 
matters,  to  the  neglect  of  Imperial  concerns,  or 
else  to  spend  time  on  Imperial  questions,  to  the 
neglect  of  local  business.  Parliament  has  ceased 
to  fulfil  its  functions  as  an  institution  for  ad- 
ministering Imperial,  English,  Scottish,  Welsh, 
and  Irish  affairs.  It  is  overburdened.  It 
is  becoming  more  and  more  a  registration 
body,  whose  function  and  duty  it  is  to  put  its 
signature  to  the  few  bills  that  the  Government  of 

1  See  Appendix  I. 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  161 

the  day  brings  in  ;  but  as  to  attending  to  the 
details  of  the  affairs  of  the  inhabitants  of  these 
islands,  and  also  to  Imperial  affairs,  it  cannot  do 
so.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  for  Parliament 
to  overtake  its  arrears  of  work  unless  it  be 
given  adequate  relief;  and  relief  can  never  be 
obtained  except  by  devolution — delegation  of 
authority  in  some  shape  or  other. 

In  the  second  place,  Irish  business  cannot  be 
attended  to,  and  is  not  attended  to,  in  Parlia- 
ment. Ireland  differs  in  many  respects  in  her 
problems  from  Great  Britain.  The  peculiarities 
of  her  position  and  requirements  are  such  that 
similarity  of  treatment  does  not  always  involve 
equal  justice.  Her  affairs  require  special  atten- 
tion. They  are  neglected,  and  cannot  fail  to  be 
neglected,  under  the  present  circumstances. 
However  willing  Parliament  may  be,  it  is  im- 
potent through  lack  of  time.  It  is  necessary  to 
give  relief  to  Parliament,  and  to  ensure  that  Irish 
business  shall  be  attended  to  with  full  knowledge, 
care,  and  sympathy.  The  view  of  the  Irish 
Reform  Association  is  that  power  to  deal  with 
much  of  the  business  relating  to  Irish  affairs, 
with  which  Parliament  is  at  present  unable  to 
cope,  may,  with  perfect  safety,  and  with  advan- 
tage both  to  Ireland  and  to  Parliament,  be 
delegated  to  an  Irish  body. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  real  object  is  to 
set  up  a  separate  and  independent  Parliament. 


1 62        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

The  idea  is  absurd.  Such  a  body  as  has  been 
proposed  may  be  called  a  Parliament  or  a 
Legislature  or  anything  else,  but  an  independent 
or  sovereign  Legislature  it  cannot  be  called.  It 
would  have  legislative  functions  delegated  to  it. 
It  would  be  a  subordinate  law-making  body. 
So  are  a  great  many  bodies.  The  Board  of 
Agriculture  has  legislative  functions,  and  county 
councils  have  them.  Every  body  that  has  power 
to  pass  by-laws,  every  body  that  proceeds  by 
provisional  orders,  exercises  legislative  functions. 
Professor  Dicey  has  laid  down  that  a  railway 
company  is  a  subordinate  law-making  body ; 
but  no  one  will  say  that  a  railway  company  is  a 
legislature.  It  is  a  question  of  degree.  A  rail- 
way company  represents  one  end  of  the  scale. 
It  is  a  law-making  body  possessed  of  very 
limited  functions.  The  body  proposed  by  the 
Association  would  be  at  the  other  end  of  the 
scale.  It  would  be  a  law-making  body  endowed 
with  very  large  and  important  functions  ;  but  it 
would  still  be  subordinate,  for  its  powers  would 
be  derived  from  a  superior  source. 

Of  still  greater  importance  are  the  proposals 
of  the  Irish  Reform  Association  regarding 
finance.  Money  is  needed  for  the  development 
of  the  country.  Successive  Governments  have 
not  taken  a  sufficiently  large  and  comprehensive 
view  and  grasp  of  the  whole  situation  in  Ireland. 
They  have  spent  a  little  money  here,  a  little 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  163 

money  there,  in  pursuance  of  the  policy 
stigmatized  by  some  as  "killing  Home  Rule  by 
kindness."  It  is  not  kindness  we  are  pleading 
for;  we  want  justice.  Parliament  should  under- 
stand the  circumstances,  the  necessities,  and  the 
requirements  of  the  country ;  seize  the  whole 
problem  squarely,  and  deal  with  it  in  a  bold  and 
sufficient  manner. 

Ireland  should  not  be  swathed  in  swaddling 
clothes,  and  fed  with  a  spoon  by  a  capricious 
nurse.  What  she  requires  is  freedom  to  use  her 
own  limbs  and  to  feed  herself.  The  country 
requires  development.  If  Ireland  is  ever  to  be 
made  capable  of  bearing  taxation,  and  the  people 
afforded  an  opportunity  of  bettering  themselves, 
the  principle  must  be  applied  that  has  been 
applied  in  Egypt,  in  South  Africa,  and  almost 
everywhere  in  the  Empire  except  in  Ireland : 
public  credit  and  public  money  must  be  profit- 
ably employed  in  the  development  of  the 
country,  in  providing  harbours,  main-drainage 
works,  in  educational  work,  in  encouraging 
industries,  and  in  a  thousand  other  ways. 
There  is  nothing  recondite,  obscure,  or  difficult 
about  this ;  it  is  merely  applying  to  Ireland  in  a 
public  way  the  same  principle  which  every  man 
applies  to  his  own  property — that  is,  the  invest- 
ment of  capital  in  it  which  can  be  profitably 
employed.  Ireland  is  not  suffering  because  of 
the  contiguity  of  a  melancholy  ocean,  nor 


1 64        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

because  of  a  double  dose  of  original  sin,  which, 
strangely  enough,  only  affects  Irishmen  at  home  ; 
she  is  suffering  from  plain  and  tangible  facts, 
which,  if  once  understood,  could  be  grappled 
with  and  cured. 

Money  is  needed  for  development,  and  money 
can  be  got  for  that  purpose  in  many  ways — by 
the  use  of  the  Imperial  credit ;  by  larger  sums 
voted  by  Parliament ;  or  by  making  the  amount 
of  money  that  is  voted  for  Irish  services  go  a 
great  deal  further  than  it  does  now.  I  put  aside 
the  two  former  methods,  and  confine  myself  to 
the  last — to  a  method  of  financing  Irish  problems 
without  costing  the  Imperial  taxpayer  a  penny  in 
credit  or  in  cash. 

It  has  been  estimated,  and  with  truth,  that 
economies  to  the  extent  of  from  one  to  three 
millions  a  year  could  be  made  in  Irish 
administration.  Suppose  a  million  a  year  could 
be  saved.  A  great  deal  that  is  urgently  needed 
could  be  done  in  Ireland  for  a  million  a 
year,  or  for  the  capital  a  million  a  year  could 
buy.  But  such  savings  can  be  effected  only  in 
one  way.  It  must  be  to  the  interest  of  the 
people  to  make  them.  Large  economies  are 
possible  by  applying  local  knowledge,  local 
experience,  and  local  intelligence  to  the  expendi- 
ture of  money  voted  for  Irish  services  ;  and  by 
the  assurance  that  the  savings  effected  shall  be 
devoted  to  Irish  services,  and  shall  not  merely 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  165 

go  back  into  the  maw  of  the  Treasury.  The 
people  must  be  made  directly  interested  in 
diminishing  expenditure  and  in  determining  how 
that  desirable  object  can  be  best  attained. 
Extravagance  cannot  be  checked,  nor  money 
voted  for  Irish  services  applied  to  the  best  pur- 
pose, till  the  Irish  people  have  some  direct  voice 
in  saying  how  that  money  shall  be  spent,  and 
are  guaranteed  that  all  savings  that  are  made 
shall  be  used  solely  for  Irish  purposes. 

Ireland,  now  the  Land  Question  is  in  course  of 
settlement,  is  entering  on  a  new  era,  a  bright  era 
full  of  hopefulness  ;  and  if  she  can  secure  internal 
peace,  she  can  make  savings  in  many  ways. 
Ireland  is  extraordinarily  free  from  crime  ;  and 
unquestionably  in  time  considerable  economies 
in  the  policing  of  the  country  will  become 
possible.  As  it  is,  the  time  is  ripe  for  the 
reform  of  the  judiciary.  In  no  country  in  the 
world  does  government  cost  half  as  much  as  in 
Ireland.  Everything  connected  with  law  and 
justice  costs  in  Ireland  from  three  to  four  times 
as  much  as  it  does  in  Scotland,  and  it  might  be 
supposed  that  the  calendar  of  criminal  offences 
in  Ireland  largely  exceeded  that  of  Scotland. 
This  is  not  the  case.  Surely  there  must  be 
something  a  little  wrong  about  a  system  under 
which  the  legal  machinery  costs  three  or  four 
times  as  much  in  Ireland  as  in  Scotland,  where 
the  population  is  about  the  same  and  somewhat 
more  predisposed  to  crime. 


1 66        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

The  Irish  Reform  Association  has  proposed 
that  a  Financial  Council,  under  the  presidency 
of  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  shall  be  instituted, 
which  can  at  least  endeavour  to  secure  efficiency 
and  economy  with  some  hope  of  success  ;  and 
that  all  savings  made  by  the  Council  shall  be 
devoted  to  Irish  purposes,  and  be  expended  in 
the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  country, 
and  in  satisfying  the  needs  of  the  people.  It 
holds  that  under  the  present  system,  the  financial 
administration  is  wasteful  and  unappreciative  of 
the  needs  of  the  country,  and  that  the  methods 
in  which  moneys  devoted  to  the  Irish  service  are 
expended  do  not  inspire  public  confidence  in 
Ireland ;  and  it  believes  that  this  most  unhealthy 
state  of  things  can  be  remedied  by  the  institution 
of  a  Financial  Council,  or  some  body  dealing 
with  finance,  through  which  local  knowledge, 
experience,  interest,  and  talent  can  be  applied 
to  financial  administration  in  Ireland. 

Let  me  sum  up  the  position  to  make  it 
perfectly  clear.  The  political  ideal  of  the  Irish 
Reform  Association  is — 

(i)  To  relieve  the  Imperial  Parliament  of  a 
great  mass  of  business  to  which  it 
cannot  possibly  attend  at  present,  by 
delegating  to  an  Irish  body  legisla- 
tive functions  in  connection  with  Irish 
affairs. 


1 67 

(2)  To   ensure    that    business    peculiar    to 

Ireland  shall  not  be  neglected,  as  it  is 
now,  but  shall  be  attended  to  by 
those  who  understand  the  needs  and 
requirements  of  the  country. 

(3)  To  apply  local  knowledge  and   experi- 

ence to  the  financial  administration 
of  the  country,  and  to  ensure  that  all 
economies  made  shall  be  devoted  to 
Ireland,  and  expended  in  developing 
the  resources  of  the  country,  and 
satisfying  the  needs  of  the  people. 

Those  are  the  main  political  objects  at  which 
it  aims.  How  far  the  proposals  made  are 
capable  of  carrying  those  principles  into  practical 
effect  is  a  question  about  which  differences  of 
opinion  must  naturally  arise.  Those  proposals 
will  be  found  in  Appendix  I.  They  are  not  to 
be  taken  as  complete  or  final.  On  the  contrary, 
they  were  put  forward,  as  is  indeed  expressly 
stated  in  them,  tentatively  to  stimulate  inquiry. 
The  objections  raised  to  them  have  been 
criticisms  on  details  which  the  Association  did 
not  attempt  to  definitely  deal  with.  It  was  not 
within  its  proper  function  to  do  so.  To  for- 
mulate a  scheme  for  the  better  government  of 
Ireland,  and  deal  with  finance,  is,  in  fact,  to 
draft  a  bill  for  presentation  to  Parliament — an 
operation  which  can  be  undertaken  only  by  a 


1 68        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

Government  in  consultation  with  the  Treasury. 
All  that  the  Irish  Reform  Association  could  do 
was  to  make  certain  suggestions  on  certain  lines. 
Its  suggestions  are  confined  to  the  delegation 
of  legislative  functions,  the  transference  of 
control  from  the  Treasury  to  a  local  body,  and 
the  means  of  financing  that  body.  The  line  it 
recommended  was  that  of  Devolution.  Real 
reform — not  mere  tinkering  departmental 
changes — in  the  system  of  Castle  Government 
must  proceed  on  one  of  two  lines — either 
on  the  line  of  federation,  as  exemplified,  for 
instance,  in  the  relation  between  the  Dominion 
and  Provincial  Governments  in  Canada ;  or  by 
devolution,  such  as,  for  example,  may  be  found 
in  the  relations  between  the  Central  and  Pro- 
vincial Governments  in  India.  Federation  might 
be  the  best  line  to  work  upon  ;  but  federation,  if 
it  ever  comes,  will  come  as  part  of  a  very  much 
larger  measure  of  an  Imperial  character,  and,  in 
the  meantime,  Ireland  cannot  wait.  Federation 
is  also  open  to  the  objection  that,  obviously, 
repeal  must  precede  it,  and  repeal,  in  my 
opinion,  is  quite  below  the  horizon  of  practical 
politics.  There  remains  devolution ;  and  the 
Irish  Reform  Association  was,  in  my  humble 
opinion,  well  advised  in  adopting  those  lines. 
So  much  for  the  general  views  of  that  much- 
abused  body,  the  Irish  Reform  Association.  It 
has  not  put  forward  any  stereotyped  scheme  ;  and 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  169 

on  details,  and  details  of  perhaps  considerable 
importance,  some  divergence  in  the  views  of 
individual  members  must  naturally  exist. 

Speaking  merely  for  myself,  I  desire  to  make 
my  position  clear. 

In  the  Irish  political  vocabulary  much  con- 
fusion of  language  unfortunately  prevails.  What 
does  "  Unionism "  mean  ?  What  is  one  to 
understand  by  "  Nationalism  "  ?  Who  will  define 
"  Home  Rule  "  ?  "  Repeal  "  is  the  only  term  in 
Irish  political  nomenclature  to  which  definite 
signification  can  be  attached,  and,  for  that 
reason,  I  suppose,  it  is  seldom  used.  Repeal  is 
merely  a  destructive  policy  carrying  with  it  no 
indication  of  what  is  to  be  substituted  for  the 
particular  form  of  political  connection  that  now 
exists  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  Still, 
Repeal  is  a  policy,  and  Unionism  ought  to 
imply,  and  at  one  time  did  imply,  the  opposite 
of  that  policy,  but  of  late  it  has  come  to 
mean  a  great  deal  more.  As  used  by  the 
old  ascendancy  party,  and  as  preached  to  the 
electorate  at  the  last  General  Election,  it  means 
the  denial  of  any  extension  of  self-governing 
power  to  Ireland  within  the  legislative  union. 
Unionism  has  been  degraded  to  a  policy  of  mere 
negation. 

By  "  Nationalism "  almost  anything  may  be 
understood  from  aspiration  for  complete  inde- 
pendence to  an  expression  of  faith  in  the  fact 


170  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

that  Ireland  is  a  nation.  The  various  ideals 
of  Nationalists  may,  I  think,  be  thus  fairly 
described : — (i)  Independence,  in  the  form  of  an 
Irish  Republic  ;  (2)  Dualism  ;  (3)  Repeal,  and 
restoration  of  the  status  quo  ante.  To  none  of 
these  ideals  can  I  assent,  so  I  suppose  I  cannot 
count  myself  a  Nationalist,  though  firm  in  the 
living  faith  that  the  people  of  Ireland  are  a 
nation.  Home  Rule  is  so  often  used  as  an 
alternative  expression  for  Nationalism,  that 
I  am  precluded  from  calling  myself  a  Home 
Ruler,  although  I  advocate  what  I  believe 
to  be  Home  Rule.  A  Reformer  is  too  vague 
an  appellation.  I  therefore  dub  myself  a 
Devolutionist. 

I  do  not  commend  any  particular  proposals  on 
the  lines  of  devolution  to  the  acceptance  of 
those  whose  ideal  is  an  independent  Ireland  as  a 
discharge  in  full  of  their  claims.  Their  ideal  is 
not  my  ideal,  £.nd  I  merely  urge  my  own  views. 
The  notion  that  a  small  and  poor  country  like 
Ireland  could  possibly  maintain  herself  in  a  posi- 
tion of  independence,  is  to  me  preposterous.  She 
might  probably — she  is  a  nice  little  island — be 
annexed  by  somebody ;  and  with  conscription  and 
still  higher  rates  of  taxation,  that  would  not  be 
very  much  to  her  advantage.  But  the  important 
factor  is  that,  as  long  as  Great  Britain  exists,  it 
cannot  be  convenient  for  her  that  Ireland  should 
be  annexed  by  anybody  ;  and  Great  Britain  has 


IRELAND  S    NEEDS.  iyi 

a  perfect  right  to  protect  herself.  Dualism  is 
surely  out  of  the  question,  especially  with  the 
example  of  Sweden  and  Norway  before  us. 
Failing  the  position  of  an  absolutely  independent 
and  self-sufficient  State,  Ireland,  whatever  her 
form  of  government  may  be,  must  be  largely 
dependent  upon  Great  Britain,  acutely  sensitive 
to  her  policy.  In  a  war  of  tariffs  Ireland  must 
infallibly  go  to  the  wall.  If  it  came  to  the  worst, 
Great  Britain,  the  consumer,  could  do  without 
Ireland,  the  producer.  Foreign  countries  would 
benefit ;  Ireland  would  perish.  It  would  in  my 
humble  opinion  be  the  rankest  folly  on  the  part 
of  Ireland  to  deprive  herself  of  the  power  she 
possesses  in  determining  policy,  especially  in 
connection  with  trading,  commercial,  and  fiscal 
matters.  With  the  example  of  the  ruin  of  her 
industries  in  the  past  before  her,  it  would  be 
madness  on  the  part  of  Ireland  to  lay  herself 
at  the  mercy  of  a  Parliament  in  which  she  had 
no  representation.  She  would  sink  to  the 
ignominious  position  of  the  merest  dependency. 
The  Parliamentary  Union  is  not  merely  a 
legislative  enactment ;  it  is  the  result,  the 
tangible  effect,  of  natural  ties,  tendencies, 
and  causes — the  outward  and  visible  sign  of 
the  indissoluble  interdependence  of  the  two 
islands. 

My  ideal  is  that  Ireland  should  be  proud  of 
her  distinct  nationality,  and  should  cherish  and 


172  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

develop  it ;  but  that  she  should  also  take 
pride  in  what  in  a  sense  may  be  called  a 
larger  nationality — the  honourable  share  she 
has  in  the  government  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
and  in  the  conduct  of  the  great  Empire  of 
which  the  United  Kingdom  is  the  centre. 
There  is  every  reason  why  Ireland  should 
be  very  proud  of  the  part  she  has  taken 
in  creating,  maintaining,  and  administering 
the  Empire.  She  has  every  reason  also  to  be 
very  proud  of  her  distinct  characteristics  and 
nationality  ;  every  reason  why  she  should  desire 
to  have,  and  should  have,  over  her  own  affairs  as 
much  power  and  control  as  is  compatible  with 
the  share  she  has  in  the  larger  destinies  of  the 
United  Kingdom  and  of  the  Empire.  Such  is 
my  ideal ;  and,  therefore,  I  cannot  share  the  ideal 
of  my  fellow-countrymen  who  aspire  to  a  com- 
pletely independent  position  for  Ireland.  But  I 
do  not  deny  that  I  sympathize  with  them.  I  can 
understand  the  mental  attitude  of  men  who, 
seeing  the  many  disabilities  under  which  the 
country  suffers,  and  despairing  of  any  relief 
under  the  extraordinary  and  preposterous  form 
of  government  which  exists  in  Ireland,  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  nothing  can  remedy  those 
evils  except  absolute  repeal. 

To  them  I  would  appeal  for  a  charitable  con- 
sideration of  our  views.  I  would  ask  them  if 
they  cannot  walk  with  us  a  little  way  without 


IRELAND  S    NEEDS.  I  73 

prejudice  to  larger  ideals  which  we  cannot  con- 
scientiously share.  Procedure  is  of  the  essence  of 
statesmanship  ;  and  procedure  must  be  governed 
by  conditions  as  they  are.  I  would  ask  them  to 
bend  their  eyes  down  from  somewhat  inaccessible 
heights  to  the  contemplation  of  material  facts — 
the  condition  of  the  country,  and  methods  of 
dealing  with  that  condition  not  too  fatally  remote. 
I  make  no  appeal  to  sentiment  or  romance. 
I  deal  with  practical  matters ;  and  matters  of 
that  kind  must  be  dealt  with  if  the  country  is 
to  be  saved.  Ireland  is  very  sick.  For  the  last 
fifty  years  she  has  been  rapidly  decaying.  Is 
nothing  to  be  done  for  her  ?  Physicians  differ 
as  to  the  exact  prescription  that  may  be  ulti- 
mately necessary,  but  on  certain  points  they  are 
agreed.  They  are  agreed  that  a  more  generous 
diet,  freer  use  of  her  limbs,  greater  liberty,  and 
a  larger  horizon  are  needed.  Is  nothing  to  be 
done  while  they  wrangle  about  the  one  point 
on  which  they  are  not  agreed  ?  Though  they 
may  not  be  in  accord  as  to  the  exact  nature 
of  the  prescription  necessary  to  bring  about 
a  complete  cure,  is  it  not  possible  for  them  to 
combine  to  render  at  any  rate  "  first  aid "  ? 
I  appeal  to  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen  on 
other  grounds. 

Is  it  in  the  course  of  nature  that  an  intelligent 
and  industrious  people,  who  in  every  quarter  of 
the  globe,  under  different  circumstances  and 


174        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

different  conditions,  succeed  in  life,  should  be 
doomed  to  failure  in  the  cradle  of  their  race  in 
Ireland  ?  Is  it  not  singular  that  a  people,  loyal 
in  disposition  and  easily  led,  should  be  chroni- 
cally in  a  state  of  suppressed  revolt  ?  Is  it  in 
accordance  with  natural  law  that  Ireland  should 
present  the  solitary  example  of  a  community 
going  steadily  to  decay  ?  Will  Englishmen  not 
consider  the  facts  ?  If  they  will  give  the  matter 
a  little  thought,  the  case  for  reform  will,  I  am 
sure,  appeal  to  their  common-sense  and  their 
sense  of  justice.  Let  them  regard  this  matter, 
as  I  regard  it,  from  both  an  Irish  and  an  Eng- 
lish point  of  view.  From  the  Irish  standpoint, 
I  protest  vehemently  against  seeing  the  Irish 
race  wiped  off  the  soil  of  Ireland  ;  and  from  the 
English  point  of  view,  I  am  profoundly  dis- 
satisfied with  a  discontented  and  decaying  Ire- 
land. As  a  taxpayer,  Ireland  is  my  security  for 
an  enormous  loan ;  and  I  want  to  see  my 
security  going  up  and  not  going  down.  Ireland, 
moreover,  is  very  useful  to  me  in  a  great  many 
ways.  Ireland  finds  some  of  the  finest  fighting 
material  in  the  world,  as  the  glorious  records  of 
Irish  regiments,  and  the  history  of  the  Navy, 
abundantly  show ;  and  Ireland  is  valuable  not 
only  as  a  military  asset,  but  in  the  whole  ad- 
ministration of  the  Empire.  Ireland  is  of 
inestimable  value  in  the  leavening  and  quicken- 
ing qualities  of  her  spiritualized  nature.  No 


IRELAND'S  NEEDS.  175 

man — certainly  no  candid  student  of  history — 
will  deny  the  essential  nature  of  the  qualities 
peculiar  to  the  Irish  race  in  building  up  the 
Empire  of  which  Englishmen  are  so  properly 
proud.  A  discontented  and  decaying  Ireland  is 
the  one  solitary,  sad  blot  in  the  British  Empire  ; 
and  I  am  certain  that,  if  the  facts  can  be 
brought  home  to  them,  the  English  people  will 
do  anything  that  is  in  their  power  to  remove  the 
blot  from  their  escutcheon. 

Let  Irishmen  cease  from  beating  the  wind,  and 
England  will  play  her  part.  Will  Ireland  bar 
the  way  to  a  brighter  future  against  herself  ? 
Ireland  is  bleeding  to  death  before  the  eyes  of 
the  world.  Industries  are  leaving  the  country  ; 
the  population  is  deserting.  If  no  action  is 
taken  to  help  the  country  in  matters  upon  which 
all  students  of  Irish  affairs  are  agreed  she  can 
be  helped,  simply  because  agreement  cannot  be 
arrived  at  on  some  other  points ;  if  Irishmen  in 
North  and  South  are  to  go  on  from  year  to  year, 
from  generation  to  generation,  from  century  to 
century,  wrangling  and  fighting  and  doing 
nothing,  then  the  fate  of  the  country  is  sealed. 
If  Irishmen  would  only  bury  their  differences  for 
a  little  while,  Ireland  might  be  saved ;  and  if 
they  do,  and  looking  back  after  a  time,  see  the 
causes  of  dissension  in  perspective,  they  will 
realize  how  futile  they  were,  how  fertile  with 
evil,  how  utterly  unproductive  of  good.  I 


176  THE    OUTLOOK   IN    IRELAND. 

appeal  to  Nationalists  to  consider  the  desperate 
condition  of  the  country  as  she  now  stands,  and 
the  urgency  of  some  measures  of  relief;  to 
gauge  what  is  practical  and  possible  of  achieve- 
ment not  too  long  deferred.  I  remind  Unionists 
in  Ireland  and  in  England  that  in  defending  the 
Act  of  Union  they  have  taken  on  themselves  the 
responsibility  of  showing  that  that  measure  can 
justify  itself.  It  has  not  done  so,  and  from  day 
to  day,  as  Ireland  sinks  in  happiness  and  pros- 
perity, the  Union,  by  inference,  stands  more  and 
more  condemned.  Under  a  purely  negative 
policy,  Unionism  cannot  prevail.  Inaction  con- 
tains the  seeds  of  death.  The  argument  of  a 
sad,  decaying  Ireland  is  difficult  to  answer ;  if 
the  Union  is  to  be  maintained,  an  active,  living, 
democratic,  progressive  policy  must  be  applied 
to  the  causes  of  decay. 


THE    TWO    UNIONS.  177 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  TWO  UNIONS:  PROSPERITY  AND  DISTRESS. 

THE  stock  arguments  against  any  political 
reform  for  Ireland  that  I  find  generally  used 
in  conversation  are  —  (i)  that  what  is  good 
enough  for  England  must  be  good  enough  for 
Ireland ;  (2)  that  as  Scotland  has  prospered 
since  her  Union,  it  must  be  Ireland's  fault  if 
she  has  not  also  prospered.  With  the  first 
argument  I  have  dealt  shortly,  but  I  hope 
conclusively,  in  the  Introduction.  The  second 
must  be  examined  at  greater  length,  for  the 
inference  is  sound  unless  good  cause  can  be 
shown  against  it. 

Ireland's  present  difficulties  are  bound  up  with 
Ireland's  past  history.  Her  history  has  been 
advanced  as  the  most  cogent  reason  for  re- 
dressing many  of  her  grievances  ;  and  at  the 
same  time  historical  considerations  have  been 
adduced  to  show  the  impossibility  of  redress. 
Someone,  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  I  think  it  was, 
alluded  to  this  fact  when  he  said  that  Ireland 
should  tacitly  forget  her  past  history,  and  England 
should  tacitly  remember  it.  That  is  sound 


178  THE    OUTLOOK   IN    IRELAND. 

advice,  for  Ireland  is  too  fond  of  brooding  over 
the  past ;  and  Great  Britain  is  too  apt  to  dismiss 
a  painful  subject  from  her  mind.  Into  history  I 
cannot,  of  course,  go  now  in  detail.  Nevertheless, 
to  understand  the  Irish  problem  Irish  history 
should  be  considered ;  and  though  in  a  sketch 
such  as  this  it  is  necessary  to  confine  oneself 
mainly  to  the  present,  and  quite  modern  times,  I 
shall  have  to  allude  also,  in  general  terms,  to  the 
past. 

The  modern  history  of  the  Irish  political 
movement  may  be  said  to  date  from  the  time 
when  Mr.  Gladstone  took  up  the  cause,  now  over 
twenty  years  ago.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
facts  in  the  struggle  for  the  Repeal  of  the  Union 
was  the  attitude  of  the  majority  of  the  people  of 
Scotland  towards  the  question.  It  is  somewhat 
difficult  to  account  for  the  strong  wave  of  Union- 
ism that  passed  over  Scotland  in  1893.  Mr. 
Gladstone's  was  a  name  to  conjure  with  until  he 
became  a  convert  to  the  policy  of  repeal,  and 
embodied  his  policy  in  the  Bills  of  1886  and  1893; 
yet  the  expression  of  opinion  against  it  was,  if 
possible,  more  strongly  marked  in  Scotland  than 
in  England.  In  the  main  it  was  doubtless  due  to 
a  wise  understanding  of  the  value  of  the  legisla- 
tive union  between  the  two  islands,  and  as  a 
protest  against  dismemberment.  There  may, 
also,  have  been  a  feeling  of  disgust  with  the 
methods  employed  to  enforce  repeal,  and  with 


THE    TWO    UNIONS.  179 

the  admission  that  the  Home  Rule  Bills  were 
introduced  in  deference  to  outrage.  But  other 
influences  were  probably  at  work.  It  was  not 
unnatural  for  a  practical  and  logical  people  to 
argue  that  as  Scotland  had  prospered  greatly 
since  the  Union  with  England,  Ireland  ought  to 
have  prospered  under  the  Union  with  Great 
Britain ;  and  that,  if  she  had  not  done  so,  it 
must  be  due  to  some  inherent  defect  in  the  Irish 
character,  or  because  she  had  obstinately  refused 
to  avail  herself  of  opportunities  which  Scotland 
wisely  utilized  for  her  own  great  benefit.  On 
this  point  something  must  be  said,  because  the 
same  ideas  may  influence  the  Scottish  people 
still,  and  may  prejudice  them  against  all 
reform.  A  truer  conception  of  the  spirit  of 
the  Act  of  Union,  coupled  with  wise  and 
beneficial  reform  in  the  whole  system  of  govern- 
ment in  Ireland,  is  necessary  in  order  to  make 
the  Union  justifiable  in  its  results.  By  such 
means  the  Union  between  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  can  be  made  to  justify  itself  in  the  pros- 
perity of  the  latter  country,  as  the  Union  of 
Scotland  has  justified  itself ;  and  I  must  there- 
fore endeavour  to  prove  that  it  will  be  arguing  on 
false  premises,  reasoning  on  a  false  analogy,  to 
attribute  the  failure  of  the  Union  in  bringing 
prosperity  to  Ireland  to  any  particular  defect 
in  the  Irish  character,  or  to  a  double  dose  of 
original  sin.  Quite  intelligible  reasons  exist  why 


180        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

Ireland  has  not  prospered  under  the  Union 
with  Great  Britain,  although  Scotland  has 
prospered  under  the  Union  with  England. 

In  making  any  comparison  between  the  relative 
results  of  union  upon  Scotland  and  Ireland,  the 
whole  sum  of  circumstances — historical,  ethnolo- 
gical, and  others — must  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion. The  political  history  and  social  condition 
of  Scotland  and  Ireland  at  the  time  of  their 
respective  Unions  were  absolutely  dissimilar.  In 
no  important  particular  whatever  can  they  be 
considered  to  be  alike.  Scotland  had  long  before 
entirely  emerged  from  the  tribal  state,  and  had 
arrived  at  the  condition  of  a  homogeneous  people. 
She  enjoyed  a  stable  form  of  government  under 
hereditary  kings,  and  had,  indeed,  given  a  king  to 
England.  She  had  an  absolutely  independent 
Parliament  of  her  own.  At  the  time  of  the  Legis- 
lative Union  she,  as  a  self-dependent  kingdom, 
and  as  a  community  that  had  long  been  self- 
dependent  and  independent,  entered  on  equal 
terms  with  another  kingdom  of  the  same  charac- 
ter. That  was  the  condition  of  Scotland.  Com- 
pare it  with  that  of  Ireland.  Independent 
Ireland  had  over-kings,  but  they  exercised 
at  best  a  very  vague  and  shadowy  authority. 
Independent  Ireland  never  really  emerged  from 
the  tribal  state.  Her  condition  was  one  of 
perpetual  war  within  her  borders.  She  had 
all  the  makings,  if  such  a  term  may  be  used, 


THE    TWO    UNIONS.  l8l 

of  a  nation,  and,  so  far  as  size  of  territory 
would  permit,  of  a  great  one.  She  created  an 
architecture  peculiar  to  herself ;  she  had  arts  of 
her  own,  and  an  abundant  literature.  For  a  time 
she  was  foremost  in  civilization  among  the  people 
of  the  West ;  but  her  development  was  arrested. 
Politically  and  socially  she  did  not  work  her  way 
up  to  the  condition  of  an  independent  homoge- 
neous State,  with  an  ordered  society  under  a 
settled,  stable,  and  continuous  form  of  govern- 
ment. She  had  at  various  times  Parliaments  of 
a  kind,  and  a  Parliament  in  the  modern  sense 
for  a  few  short  years  before  the  Union,  but  it 
was  not  representative  of  the  people ;  it  did  not 
control  the  executive,  and  was  independent  only 
in  name.  Such  was  her  condition  when  she 
entered  into  Legislative  Union — a  very  different 
one  from  that  of  Scotland. 

England  never  succeeded  in  anglicizing  or 
colonizing  Scotland.  She  did  not  impose  an 
alien  system  of  land-tenure  upon  her,  or  an  alien 
Church.  She  did  not  persecute  her  or  confiscate 
her  lands,  as  in  Ireland.  Scotland,  of  course, 
suffered  persecution  and  confiscation ;  but,  speak- 
ing generally,  it  was  Scot  persecuting  and  confis- 
cating Scot.  Across  the  Channel,  it  was  English 
persecuting  and  confiscating  Irish.  The  difference 
in  permanent  effect  is  very  great.  Ireland 
had  very  early  progressed  far  on  •  the  path  of 
civilization.  In  religion,  architecture,  literature, 


1 82         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

and  the  arts,  she  was  ahead  of  what  is  now 
Great  Britain  or  of  any  European  peoples  ;  but 
socially  and  politically  she  never  rose  to  the  con- 
dition of  a  settled,  self-sustaining,  independent 
State.  Her  people  were  never  united,  and  they 
fell  an  easy  prey.  She  was  not  really  conquered 
in  the  sense  of  being  brought  into  complete  sub- 
jection throughout.  Spasmodic  local  struggles 
were  kept  up,  but  her  territories  were  perpetually 
overrun,  and  wave  after  wave  of  planters  were 
settled  upon  the  land.  For  centuries  the  Irish 
people  were  under  the  heel  of  England,  and 
England  struggled  to  stamp  out  the  distinctive 
nationality  of  the  country.  The  consequences  of 
the  essential  distinction  that  exists  between  the 
geographical  position  of  the  two  countries  in 
respect  to  England  must  be  fully  realized  also. 
In  the  one  case  a  more  or  less  arbitrary  border- 
line exists  between  England  and  Scotland, 
territory  and  race  merging  gradually  together. 
In  the  other,  the  storm-tossed  Irish  Sea  between 
England  and  Ireland  definitely  marks  differ- 
ences both  of  territory  and  race. 

When  the  Union  between  England  and 
Scotland  was  carried  into  effect,  Scotland 
was  fully  equipped  with  her  own  commercial 
institutions,  and  accumulated  capital;  and 
Scotsmen  were  showing  a  tendency  to  found, 
under  the  authority  of  the  Scottish  Parliament, 
offshoots  and  separate  colonies  of  their  own. 


THE    TWO    UNIONS.  183 

English  and  Scottish  interests  were,  to  some 
extent,  clashing ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
commercial  relations  between  the  two  countries 
were  very  close,  the  sense  of  community  of 
interests  was  strong,  and  it  was  felt  that, 
as  some  solution  of  the  problem  had  to  be 
found,  the  best  lay  in  closer  political  relations 
through  the  union  of  the  Parliaments.  Scotland 
possessed  the  means  of  utilizing  the  Union  for  her 
own  benefit ;  and  her  people  were  fully  capable  of 
doing  so.  Ireland  had  not  the  means  :  she  had 
few  industries  and  no  store  of  capital ;  the 
nation  was  demoralized ;  and  the  people  were 
smarting  under  a  deep  sense  of  injury,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  their  commercial  enterprise  and 
their  industries  had  been  deliberately  crushed 
out. 

For  many  years  after  the  Act  of  1707  was 
passed,  it  was  viewed  by  some  persons  with 
little  favour.  They  feared  that  Scotland  would 
lose  her  distinctive  nationality,  and  become 
anglicized.  They  were  wrong  ;  and  those 
who  viewed  the  Act  of  Union  with  cordial 
anticipation  of  good  for  Scotland  were  right. 
They  realized  that  the  Scottish  people  were 
more  likely  to  conquer  the  English  than 
the  English  were  likely  to  conquer  them ; 
and  this  has  proved  to  be  the  fact.  Year  by 
year  England  and  the  British  Empire  have 
passed  more  and  more  under  the  sway  of  the 


184        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

all-conquering  Scot.  Lord  Rosebery,  a  Scotch- 
man, was  the  last  Liberal  Prime  Minister; 
Mr.  Balfour,  a  Scotsman,  held  that  exalted 
post  for  four  years  ;  and  now  Sir  Henry 
Campbell-Bannerman,  another  Scotsman,  holds 
office  as  the  First  Minister  of  the  Crown. 
In  many  respects,  in  science  and  commerce, 
and  especially  in  mechanics,  the  Scotsman 
holds  a  high  place,  not  only  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  but  throughout  the  Empire ;  wher- 
ever an  engine  is  at  work,  by  land  or  sea,  there 
a  Scotsman  is  to  be  found.  He  has  taken  a 
great  part  in  the  colonization  of  the  daughter 
lands  overseas.  Scotland,  having  had  the  means 
for  doing  so,  has  worked  the  Act  of  Union 
greatly  to  her  own  advantage.  And  Scotland 
owes  much  to  the  genius  of  two  of  her  sons — 
giants  in  literature — Robert  Burns  and  Sir 
Walter  Scott — who  popularized  her  romance. 
She  became  the  fashion.  Old  feuds,  such  as 
they  were,  have  been  obliterated  by  the  inter- 
change of  opinions  and  intermixture  of  peoples, 
by  intermarriage,  by  commerce,  and  by  the 
healthy  respect  which  the  Scottish  people  have 
been  able  to  win  for  themselves  throughout  the 
British  Empire. 

From  beginning  to  end  the  case  of  Ireland 
has  been  entirely  different.  She  never  had  a 
fair  start.  Her  growth  was  stunted,  her  natural 
development  arrested ;  and,  such  is  the  irony  of 


THE    TWO    UNIONS.  185 

fate,  in  the  interests  of  religion  an  English  Pope 
issued  a  Bull  to  Henry  II,  directing  him  to 
assume  authority  over  Ireland,  in  order  that 
Ireland  might  be  made  more  dutifully  Catholic 
than  she  was.  For  centuries  English  pretensions 
were  enforced  by  all  the  power  of  both  State  and 
Church.  The  Norman  adventurers  won  their  way 
into  the  country,  and  received  grants  of  great 
tracts  of  land.  The  feudal  system — a  system 
which  was  quite  uncongenial  to  the  people,  and 
never  took  root — was  introduced,  and  the 
land  struggle  of  the  centuries  commenced.  In 
succeeding  years,  this  attempt  to  colonize 
Ireland  was  renewed  again  and  again  ;  and 
after  Cromwell's  victorious  march  through  the 
country,  he  initiated  a  great  scheme  of  angli- 
cization  which  left  deep  marks.  Practically 
the  whole  of  Ireland,  with  the  exception  of 
Connaught,  was  portioned  out  among  British 
settlers.  Connaught,  the  poorest  corner  of 
Ireland,  became  what  Americans,  with  reference 
to  the  native  Indians  of  their  continent,  would 
call  "  a  reservation."  The  Irish  people  were 
driven  into  this  part  of  their  native  land,  and  an 
attempt  was  made  to  coop  them  up,  while  large 
numbers  of  Irish  women  and  girls  were  shipped 
to  the  West  Indies  in  a  state  of  slavery  or  little 
better. 

The  extraordinary  thing  about  all  the  schemes 
for  the  settlement  of  Ireland  is  that  they  have 


1 86        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

always  failed.  The  Irish  people  may  not  have 
revealed  the  strong,  sagacious  qualities  and 
capacity  for  united  action  which  enabled  the 
Scottish  people  to  hold  'their  own  against  any- 
thing and  anybody,  and  to  resist  the  English 
until  they  saw  an  opportunity  of  conquering 
England  by  the  peaceful  arts  of  civilization  ; 
but  the  Irish  have  shown  extraordinary  vitality 
and  tenacity,  great  recuperative  power,  and  a 
marvellous  capacity  for  assimilating,  moulding, 
and  absorbing  foreign  elements  introduced 
among  them.  Ireland  has  always  laid  success- 
ful siege  to  the  hearts  of  all  the  settlers  upon 
her  shores.  Her  people  possess  qualities  and 
characteristics  which  can  never  be  obliterated. 
Normans  and  other  settlers  became  more  Irish 
than  the  Irish.  Ireland  to-day  is  populated  by 
a  people  of  probably  more  various  origin  than 
can  be  found  in  any  other  island  of  the  same 
size  in  the  world ;  but  in  the  Irish  people  of 
to-day  the  old  Celtic  qualities  remain.  The 
original  characteristics  of  the  early  inhabitants 
of  Ireland,  in  spite  of  all  the  incursions  of 
settlers  coming  across  the  Irish  Sea,  have  been 
preserved.  In  a  sense,  Ireland  has  also  con- 
quered England. 

To  turn  to  more  modern  times,  Ireland  suffered 
from  civil  war  and  dynastic  troubles  in  common 
with  England  and  Scotland,  but  she  quickly 
recovered.  The  people  showed  great  com- 


THE    TWO    UNIONS.  187 

mercial  ability.  Possessed,  as  she  was,  of  many 
potential  sources  of  wealth  in  her  splendid 
waterways,  in  the  fertility  of  her  soil,  and  in  her 
geographical  position,  Ireland  quickly  developed 
important  textile  industries  and  manufactures  of 
all  kinds.  The  progress  made  in  the  years 
succeeding  the  Restoration  showed  the  recupera- 
tive strength  of  the  country;  and,  although 
England  also  progressed,  it  was  thought  by 
contemporaries  that  the  advance  made  by 
Ireland  in  material  wealth  was,  during  this 
period,  greater  than  that  made  by  any  other 
country.  Irish  success  aroused  English  jealousy, 
and  Ireland  was  at  England's  mercy,  while 
Scotland  never  was.  Textile  and  other  industries 
were  interfered  with.  Her  trade  in  live  cattle 
was  put  an  end  to  by  the  English  Parliament. 
Ireland  then  turned  her  attention  to  the  provi- 
sion trade  with  England,  the  Continent,  and  the 
Colonies.  Again  Ireland  was  successful,  and, 
as  a  result,  Irish  shipping  commenced  to 
grow  rapidly.  Again  England  stepped  in,  and 
gradually  the  whole  of  the  Irish  industries  were 
swept  out  of  existence.  Ireland  was  treated 
as  a  foreign  country  and  a  dangerous  rival. 
England  used  the  authority  of  her  Parliament, 
which  even  before  the  days  of  the  Scottish 
Union  had  never  extended  to  Scotland,  to 
cripple  Irish  industry,  and  the  Irish  people, 
denied  the  opportunity  of  developing  their 


1 88         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

trades,  fell  back  upon  agriculture,  and  struggled 
along  as  best  they  could  under  a  weight  of 
legislative  restrictions  from  which  even  agricul- 
ture was  not  exempt.  Gradually  they  lost  their 
high  technique,  and  were  robbed  of  confidence 
in  themselves  and  in  English  justice. 

To  come  down  to  recent  times,  the  Fiscal 
Policy,  commonly  called  Free  Trade,  was  detri- 
mental to  Ireland.  It  was  eminently  suited  to 
Great  Britain  at  a  period  when  she  had  prac- 
tically gained  the  command  of  all  the  markets 
of  the  world ;  but  it  was  disastrous  to  agriculture 
in  Ireland — the  only  industry  which  English 
statesmen  had  permitted  to  survive — and,  con- 
sequently, it  was  disastrous  to  Ireland.  The 
revolution  effected  by  steam,  and  the  success  of 
Mr.  Cobden,  led  to  an  immense  development  of 
manufacture  and  of  trade  in  England,  and  the 
country  was  transformed  from  an  agricultural 
into  the  greatest  industrial  country  of  the  world, 
because  she  possessed,  not  only  a  great  mercan- 
tile marine,  but  also,  in  a  larger  measure  than 
any  other  nation  developed  at  that  time,  the 
raw  material  essential  to  manufacture.  Scot- 
land, to  a  large  extent,  shared  in  this  advantage. 
Ireland,  on  the  other  hand,  suffered  without  any 
compensating  advantage.  She  possessed  no  very 
large  mineral  deposits  of  assured  commercial 
value ;  and  at  the  time  the  great  change  in 
the  commercial  policy  of  England  came,  and 


THE    TWO    UNIONS.  189 

Ireland  was  thrown  open  to  the  traders  of  the 
world,  as  England  and  Scotland  were  thrown 
open,  the  Irish  people  had  no  established  manu- 
facturing industries  and  no  accumulation  of 
capital,  and  had  lost,  under  British  restrictions, 
that  hereditary  technical  skill  which  at  one  time 
had  rendered  their  manufactures  successful  even 
against  the  favoured  productions  of  England. 
They  had  also  been  robbed  of  that  inestimable 
advantage — confidence  in  themselves. 

From  this  brief  review  of  some  of  the  salient 
facts  in  the  history  of  Ireland,  it  will  be  seen 
how  very  different  has  been  the  course  of  events 
in  the  lt  Island  of  Saints  "  and  in  the  "  Land  o' 
Cakes."  Scotland,  long  before  the  Union,  had 
developed  into  the  status  of  an  absolutely  inde- 
pendent, ordered  State,  under  a  constitutionally 
restricted  monarchy.  Scotland  was  always  Scot- 
land, and  as  such  her  policy  has  always  been 
successfully  defensive  against  aggression,  colo- 
nization, and  all  forms  of  oppression.  The 
common  Crown  was  not  synonymous  with  a 
common  Parliament.  So  long  as  the  two  king- 
doms remained  under  distinctive  Parliaments, 
she  held  what  she  possessed ;  when  the  two 
Parliaments  were  united,  she  kept  what  she  had, 
and  proceeded  to  acquire  more  by  spoiling  the 
Saxon.  Owing  to  the  absence  of  any  well- 
defined  line  of  demarcation  between  the  two 
countries,  Scotland  has  been  able  to  impress  her 


I  gO        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

nationality  upon  England  to  a  large  extent ;  and, 
for  the  same  reason,  England  knows  and  under- 
stands Scotland.  Ireland,  on  the  other  hand, 
never  achieved  the  position  of  an  independent, 
homogeneous  State  under  a  settled  form  of 
government.  Ireland  was  never  Ireland  in  the 
contest  against  England.  From  want  of  unity, 
the  country  gradually  lost  its  independence,  and, 
from  the  same  cause,  all  its  power  of  self-defence. 
As  a  consequence,  Ireland  was  misused  in  the 
past  to  suit  the  temporary  requirements  of 
English  trade,  as  she  is  now  too  often  misused 
to  suit  the  passing  requirements  of  mere  party 
politics.  Owing  to  a  boisterous  Channel,  Ireland 
has  not  impressed  her  nationality  upon  England 
as  Scotland  has  done ;  nor  does  England  under- 
stand her  as  she  does  Scotland.  What  is  the 
average  Englishman's  conception  of  Irishmen  ? 
A  cross  between  the  jovial  stage  Irishman — a 
comical  creature  in  knee-breeches  and  a  frieze 
tail-coat,  capering  with  a  pipe  in  his  hat-band,  a 
whiskey-bottle  in  his  pocket,  and  whirling  a 
blackthorn  stick — and  the  weird  being  with 
black  mask  and  blunderbuss,  who  looms,  with 
such  ridiculous  inaccuracy,  in  the  columns  of 
"The  Times."  England  has  not  understood, 
does  not  understand,  has  not  taken  the  trouble 
to  understand,  Ireland!  The  assertion  by  its 
people  of  their  claim  to  distinctive  nationality, 
religion,  and  language  has  only  served  to  irritate 


THE    TWO    UNIONS.  IQI 

the  English  people  into  acts  of  domination  and 
repression.  An  alien  land  system,  an  alien 
language,  an  alien  Church,  an  alien  judiciary,  an 
alien  administration,  were  all  in  succession  forced 
upon  Ireland. 

I  hope  I  have  said  enough  in  this  bare, 
sketchy  outline  of  events  in  proof  of  my  conten- 
tion that  no  analogy  is  to  be  found  in  the 
circumstances  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  at  the 
time  of  their  respective  Unions. 

We  cannot  judge  fairly  of  the  Irish  problem 
unless  we  realize  that  we  cannot  argue  what 
Ireland  ought  to  be  from  what  Scotland  is. 


THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION    IN    THE    BRITISH 
EMPIRE. 

AN  unsophisticated  stranger  chancing  lately  to 
visit  the  United  Kingdom  might  well  imagine 
that  those  who  have  suggested  that  a  large 
devolution  of  power  would  be  greatly  to  the 
advantage  of  both  Ireland  and  the  Imperial 
Parliament  had  committed  a  treasonable  act 
against  the  Commonwealth.  The  extraordinary 
misconstruction  placed  upon  "devolution"  dates 
from  a  meeting  in  Dublin  in  August,  1903,  when 
it  was  decided  to  establish  the  Irish  Reform 
Association.  In  the  first  report  which  was 
circulated,  it  was  stated  that,  "while  firmly 
maintaining  that  the  Parliamentary  Union 
between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  is  essential 
to  the  political  stability  of  the  Empire  and  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  two  islands,  we  believe  that 
such  Union  is  compatible  with  the  devolution  to 
Ireland  of  a  larger  measure  of  local  government 
than  she  now  possesses."  The  mere  suggestion 
that  Ireland  should  have  a  greater  voice  in  the 
management  of  her  own  affairs  fired  the  wild 


MODELS    OF   DEVOLUTION.  193 

imagination  of  extreme  Unionists  on  both  sides 
of  the  Channel  to  the  folly  of  asserting  that 
devolution  was  the  same  as  repeal ;  and  even 
moderate  and  sensible  men,  who  were  aware 
that  devolution,  whatever  it  might  be,  could  not 
possibly  be  repeal,  objected  to  it  on  the  ground 
that  it  must  lead  up,  through  violence  and 
persecution,  to  repeal  and  independence.  It  is 
curious  how  prejudice  can  blind  the  eyes  of  men 
to  all  the  lessons  which  may  be  deduced  from 
the  history  of  the  British  Empire. 

The  story  of  that  Empire  is  the  record  of 
political  devolution.  The  Empire  consists  of  a 
series  of  communities  enjoying  various  amounts 
of  self-governing  power  derived  from  the  sove- 
reign Legislature.  They  are  joined  together  by 
the  tie  of  loyalty  to  the  Throne,  and  by  the  sense 
of  fellowship  which  has  arisen  from  common 
enjoyment  of  the  widest  possible  political,  re- 
ligious, and  social  freedom.  The  only  occasion 
upon  which  the  right  of  free  government  was 
strenuously  denied  to  a  portion  of  the  British 
Empire  was  followed  by  a  revolt  which  culmi- 
nated in  the  formation  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  The  lesson  which  the  rebellion  of  the 
American  colonies  taught  has  had  a  most  power- 
ful influence  for  good  ;  and  to-day  the  British 
Empire  affords  the  most  conclusive  testimony  to 
the  benefits  of  those  free  institutions  which  had 
their  birth  in  the  United  Kingdom,  and  have 


IQ4  THE    OUTLOOK   IN    IRELAND. 

been  gradually  planted  in  the  daughter  lands 
oversea,  and  in  the  Indian  Empire  itself. 

It  may  be  as  well  to  remark  at  the  outset  that 
the  suggestion  that  the  Imperial  Parliament 
should  delegate  to  a  local  body  the  control  of 
purely  Irish  affairs  has  no  parallel  in  any  of  the 
foreign  federations,  and  that  consequently  the 
lessons  which  may  be  learned  from  such  examples 
of  autonomy  as  exist  abroad  have  no  real  bearing 
on  the  Irish  problem  as  it  presents  itself  to 
the  people  of  the  United  Kingdom.  In  the 
case  of  Ireland,  the  Irish  Reform  Association 
has  proposed  merely  that  certain  powers  of 
control  should  be  delegated  by  the  Imperial 
Parliament  to  bodies  representing  local  opinion, 
and  responsive  to  local  requirements.  Where 
can  a  parallel  to  such  a  simple  measure  be 
found  ?  The  United  States  is  a  federation  of  a 
number  of  states,  only  nominally  independent 
and  sovereign,  as  the  Civil  War  revealed.  In 
Switzerland  we  have  a  republic  constituted  out 
of  a  number  of  territories  whose  perpetual 
neutrality  and  inviolability  are  guaranteed  by 
the  Great  Powers.  The  cases  of  Sweden  and 
Norway,  as  of  Austria  and  Hungary,  can  be 
quoted  only  as  illustrations  of  the  failure  of 
Dualism — of  Home  Rule  of  the  type  of 
Mr.  Gladstone's  Bill  of  1886. 

For  anything  like  a  parallel,  we  must  search 
much  nearer  home.  Autonomy  in  varying  degrees 


MODELS    OF   DEVOLUTION.  1 95 

is  the  keynote  of  the  British  Empire.  The  pro- 
cesses which  have  been  at  work  for  so  many 
centuries  within  what  is  now  the  British  Empire 
may  be  summed  up  thus  :— 

(1)  The  success — the  fact  of  Empire — results 
from  the  application  of  two  analogous  principles  : 
(a)   the  reservation  to   ancient   communities   of 
their    distinctive    characteristics,    usages,    laws, 
languages,  and  governing  powers  ;  (b)  the  delega- 
tion of  power  to  new  and  developing  communities. 

(2)  The  one  failure  of  the  British  Empire — 
Ireland — is  due  to  the  negation  of  these  prin- 
ciples, and  the  attempt  to  obliterate  distinctive 
characteristics     and     usages,    and    to    produce 
absolute  homogeneity  by  force. 

The  twin  policies  of  reservation  of  rights  and 
customs,  and  devolution  of  varying  measures  of 
self-government  to  new  communities,  have  been 
pursued  in  face  of  conditions  which,  to  the 
theoretical  politician  of  to-day,  might  seem  to 
contain  the  seeds  of  inevitable  failure.  Under 
our  very  eyes  we  may  see  the  most  extra- 
ordinary lengths  to  which  local  self-government 
has  been  safely  carried  in  the  present  position 
of  the  Channel  Islands  and  the  Isle  of  Man 
in  relation  to  the  Imperial  Government.  These 
small  islands  off  our  own  coasts  are  practically 
independent.  They  make  their  own  laws,  manage 
their  own  affairs,  and,  unless  specifically  men- 
tioned, Acts  of  the  Imperial  Parliament  do  not 


1 96        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

apply  to  them.  The  Channel  Islands  frankly 
acknowledge  the  sovereignty  of  the  Crown  and 
the  authority  of  the  Imperial  Government,  and 
yet  racially  the  people  are  French  to  their  very 
marrow-bones.  They  retain  their  own  language  ; 
they  have  a  system  of  military  service ;  and  a 
coinage  of  their  own.  They  remain  loyally 
attached  to  the  British  Empire  because  the 
Imperial  Parliament  has  never  attempted  to 
stamp  out  their  language  or  customs,  nor  sought 
to  force  British  institutions  upon  a  people  who 
are  non-British  in  their  cast  of  mind.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  Isle  of  Man.  These 
islands  exist  at  our  very  doors  as  illustrations 
of  the  wise  statesmanship  of  our  forefathers. 
Theoretically,  it  would  not  be  difficult  for  a 
political  extremist  of  the  Unionist  type  to 
prove  that  the  large  measure  of  self-government 
enjoyed  by  them  must  result  in  disaster ;  yet  the 
story  of  self-government  in  these  small  divisions 
of  the  British  Empire  conclusively  disproves  such 
arguments  as  are  applied  to  Ireland  when  it  is 
suggested  that  the  people  of  that  island  should 
have  delegated  to  them  the  management  of  their 
own  affairs. 

The  position  of  affairs  in  the  Channel  Islands 
is  this : — Guernsey,  Alderney,  and  Sark  are 
grouped  together  under  a  Lieutenant-Governor 
appointed  by  the  Crown ;  but  otherwise  their 
Governments  are  separate.  Jersey  has  a 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  1 97 

Lieutenant-Governor  of  its  own.  Each  island 
possesses  a  legislature  of  its  own,  known  as  the 
"  States,"  and  each  of  these  assemblies  is 
presided  over  by  an  official  styled  a  "  bailiff," 
who  is  a  nominee  of  the  Crown.  The  States 
are  partly  elective  and  partly  nominated;  and 
the  Government  of  the  island  has  been,  and  is, 
conducted  in  accordance  with  the  traditions  of 
the  people  and  with  a  view  to  preserving  their 
individual  character,  their  customs,  and  their 
language. 

The  circumstances  of  the  Isle  of  Man  well 
merit  investigation.  It  is  inhabited  by  a  Celtic 
race,  whose  characteristics  are  not  dissimilar  from 
those  of  the  people  of  Ireland,  showing  distinc- 
tive peculiarities  of  race  and  system  of  govern- 
ment. The  history  of  this  island,  as  related  by 
Sir  Spencer  Walpole,  a  former  Governor,  and  for 
some  time  Secretary  of  the  Post  Office,  is  a  story 
of  political  development  full  of  interest.  Since 
1866  the  ancient  House  of  Keys — which  it  is 
claimed  had  its  origin  before  the  British  House 
of  Commons — has  been  a  representative  body — 
indeed,  the  British  Government  would  only 
consent  to  preserve  to  the  island  its  right  of 
control  over  local  finance  on  condition  that  the 
old  autocratic  and  unrepresentative  House  of 
Keys  should  be  reformed  and  constituted  a 
representative  assembly,  responsive  to  the  wishes 
of  the  islanders.  At  that  time  the  island  was 


igS        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

little  better  than  a  department  of  the  Home 
Office  in  London,  and  had  no  voice  in  the 
management  of  its  finances ;  but  with  the  intro- 
duction of  representative  government  the  island 
acquired  a  very  large  measure  of  autonomy 
under  a  Governor,  appointed  by  the  King,  and 
assisted  by : — (i)  An  Upper  Chamber,  consisting 
of  a  Council  nominated  by  the  Crown,  and 
composed  chiefly  of  ecclesiastical  and  judicial 
dignitaries ;  (2)  a  representative  Chamber,  the 
House  of  Keys. 

The  story  of  the  development  of  the  constitu- 
tion cannot  be  described  better  than  in  the  words 
of  Sir  Spencer  Walpole  : — 

In  the  course  of  ages,  the  constitutions  and  functions  of  the 
House  of  Keys  have  been  wholly  altered.  The  assembly, 
which  had  originally  been  chiefly  a  judicial  body,  has  become 
a  branch  of  the  Legislature ;  the  House,  which  had  been 
usually  selected  by  the  "  Lord's"  officers  (when  the  Isle  of  Man 
belonged  to  the  Stanleys),  and  none  of  whose  members  could 
sit  without  the  "Lord's"  will,  has  been  converted  into  a 
Representative  Chamber.  But  time,  which  has  played  such 
pranks  with  the  Keys,  has  added  another  important  element 
into  the  Manx  Legislature.  By  a  process,  which  can  only  be 
dimly  traced,  but  whose  effects  are  plainly  visible,  an  Upper 
Chamber  has  been  added  to  the  Tynwald.  .  .  It  was  only  by 
gradual  process  that  the  Council  acquired  its  present  name. 
In  some  statutes  it  was  called  the  "  Lord's  Officers,"  in  others 
the  "  Lord's  Council."  It  was  only  gradually  too  that  its 
composition  became  fixed.  The  Council  now  consists  of  the 
Bishop,  the  Attorney-General,  the  Clerk  of  the  Rolls,  the  two 
Deemsters,  the  Archdeacon,  the  Receiver-General,  and  the 
Vicar-General.  ...  It  can  only  sit  on  the  summons  of  the 
Governor,  who  presides  at  its  meetings.  With  the  exception  of 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  1 99 

the  Vicar-General,  who  receives  his  appointment  from  the 
Bishop,  all  the  members  are  appointed  by  the  Crown ;  but  the 
odd  rule  prevailing  in  Crown  Colonies,  under  which  official 
members  of  the  Council  are  required  to  vote  with  the  Governor, 
has  never  been  applied  to  this  body. 

The  two  branches  of  the  Legislature  are  of  co-ordinate 
authority.  Public  Bills  may  be  introduced  in  either  of  them, 
though,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  legislation  usually  emanates  from 
the  Council.  In  the  Isle  of  Man,  as  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
the  work  of  legislation  tends  to  fall  more  and  more  into  the 
hands  of  the  Government,  and  the  Chamber  in  which  the 
Governor  sits,  and  in  which  his  chief  adviser,  the  Attorney- 
General  is  present,  naturally  tends  to  become  more  and  more 
the  House  in  which  new  laws  originate. 

Continuing,  Sir  Spencer  Walpole  records : — 

The  course  which  is  followed  with  legislation  is  similar  to 
that  pursued  at  Westminster.  In  the  Council,  Bills  are  read  a 
first  time,  a  second  time  are  considered  clause  by  clause,  and 
read  a  third  time,  and  passed.  In  the  Keys,  leave  is  asked  for 
the  introduction  of  a  Bill ;  the  Bill  is  subsequently  read  a 
first  time,  considered  on  the  second  reading  clause  by  clause, 
and  is  then  passed.  In  the  event  of  a  disagreement  between 
branches,  conferences  are  usually  held.  These  conferences  are 
always  held  in  the  Council  Chamber,  and  the  Governor,  as  a 
general  rule,  represents  and  explains  the  views  of  the  Council. 
The  Keys  are  represented  in  the  Conference  by  a  deputation 
of  five,  six,  or  seven  members,  one  of  whom  usually  acts  as 
spokesman,  but  whose  views  are  frequently  supported  by  his 
colleagues.  The  Conference,  therefore,  closely  resembles  what 
used  to  be  known  as  a  free  conference  in  Parliament ;  but  it 
usually  proves  an  efficient  contrivance  for  reconciling  differ- 
ences. .  .  .  Private  legislation  embraces,  or  may  embrace, 
most  of  the  subjects  dealt  with  by  Parliament  in  what  are 
known  as  Public  Local  Acts,  as  well  as  in  Private  and  Personal 
Acts.  Public  measures  deal  with  almost  every  subject  con- 
nected with  the  public  welfare  of  the  island.  There  are 
certain  points,  however,  with  which  Tynwald  does  not  deal, 


2OO  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

and  which  it  leaves  to  Parliament  to  determine.  For  instance, 
matters  affecting  the  post  office  and  telegraphic  service,  the 
regulation  of  the  army,  the  conduct  of  the  mercantile  marine 
beyond  the  territorial  limits  of  the  island,  and  others,  are 
almost  necessarily  dealt  with  by  Imperial  legislation.  Even 
in  these  matters,  however,  there  is  an  increasing  indisposition 
on  the  part  of  Tynwald  to  allow  Parliament  to  legislate ;  and 
the  members  of  the  Court  are  always  ready  to  supplement  an 
Act  of  Parliament  by  an  Act  of  Tynwald  to  prevent  the 
necessity  of  seeing  the  Isle  of  Man  expressly  included  in 
Imperial  legislation.  .  .  .  The  Imperial  Parliament  acts  on 
the  principle  that  the  island  should  be  suffered  to  regulate  its 
own  affairs,  and  does  not  attempt  to  include  it  in  Imperial 
legislation. 

Wherever  the  British  flag  waves,  the  empire- 
building  system  of  devolution  will  be  found  in 
active  work.  It  may  be  traced  in  all  Crown 
Colonies  and  dependencies,  which  are,  for  the 
most  part,  small  communities  under  the  control 
of  the  mother  country  through  the  Colonial  Office. 
Government  is  carried  on  from  home  through  the 
medium  of  governors  and  other  public  officers 
assisted  by  councils.  The  amount  of  devolution 
and  representation  varies.  Take  as  an  illustra- 
tion the  state  of  affairs  in  Malta.  In  this  island 
the  Governor  is  assisted  by  an  Executive  Council 
and  by  a  Council  of  Government,  which  consists 
of  six  official  and  thirteen  elected  members. 
When  the  latter  body  acts  contrary  to  Imperial 
policy,  as  interpreted  by  the  Governor,  the  right 
is  used  to  legislate  by  order  in  council,  and  this 
course  has  been  followed  in  recent  years  in 
dealing  with  the  language  question,  which  was 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  2OI 

the  subject  of  local  agitation  and  legislative 
inaction.  As  in  the  past,  Italian  continues  to  be 
the  official  language  of  the  law  courts ;  but 
parents  may  exercise  the  right  of  deciding 
whether  their  children  shall  be  taught  English 
or  Italian  in  the  schools. 

Across  the  Atlantic  we  find  another  illustration 
of  devolution  even  more  amazing  in  its  incon- 
sistency with  the  political  theories  now  advocated 
by  official  Unionism.  The  province  of  Quebec 
enjoys  political  autonomy  with  very  few  reser- 
vations. As  a  province  of  the  Dominion  its 
local  Legislature  cannot  interfere  in  specified 
large  questions  which  affect  the  welfare  and 
unity  of  the  whole  of  British  North  America. 
Quebec  has  ceased  to  be  a  problem  to  British 
statesmen,  because  she  has  been  trusted  with 
free  institutions.  Quebec  is  more  essentially 
French  than  France  itself.  The  religion  of  the 
people  is  Roman  Catholicism  of  an  almost 
mediaeval  type.  French  is  the  official  language, 
and  the  language  spoken  by  the  majority  of  the 
people  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  a 
colony  controlled  by  French  laws  interpreted  by 
French  jurists.  Quebec  remains  to-day  French 
to  the  backbone ;  and  it  takes  a  legitimate  pride 
in  the  unique  position  which  it  occupies.  Had 
the  Imperial  Parliament  interfered  to  apply  to 
Quebec  those  principles  which  it  has  forced 
upon  Ireland,  it  is  probable  that  Quebec  would 


2O2        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

be  either  a  distressful  country,  dragged  after  the 
Imperial  chariot  against  its  will,  or  that  it  would 
ere  now  have  severed  its  connection  with  the 
United  Kingdom.  Under  a  wise  system  of 
devolution,  which  has  made  the  British  Empire 
what  it  is,  Quebec  is  to-day  happy  and  prosperous, 
loyal  to  the  British  Throne,  and  yet  French 
through  and  through.  Quebec  is  surely  a 
remarkable  illustration  of  the  results  which  can 
be  achieved  by  a  system  of  devolution. 

Less  remarkable,  but  noteworthy,  is  the  posi- 
tion which  the  Dominion  of  Canada  and  its 
other  provinces,  and  the  Commonwealth  of 
Australia  with  its  provinces,  occupy  under 
British  rule.  Year  by  year,  Canada  is  being 
invaded  by  citizens  of  her  southern  neighbour. 
For  every  1,000  people  who  proceed  to  Canada 
from  the  United  Kingdom,  2,000  cross  the 
border  from  the  United  States ;  yet  no  one 
doubts  the  loyalty  of  the  Dominion  ;  and  why  ? 
Because  Canada  enjoys  the  largest  possible 
amount  of  political  freedom.  The  British 
Empire  has  never  been  held  together  by  formal 
and  inflexible  paper  agreements.  Year  by  year 
the  formal  bonds  binding  the  Colonies  to  the 
mother  country  have  been  relaxed  with  the 
consent  of  both  parties.  It  has  been  realized 
that  the  British  Empire  is  founded  upon 
freedom.  The  whole  story  of  the  relations 
of  the  United  Kingdom  to  its  Colonies  and 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  2O3 

Dependencies  has  been  one  long  process  of 
devolution  of  political  authority. 

The  over-sea  confederations  of  the  British 
Empire  are  amalgamations  of  separate  Colonies 
enjoying  a  large  measure  of  self-government. 
Without  sacrificing  any  material  part  of  their 
local  autonomy,  these  Colonies  were  erected  by 
an  Act  of  Union  into  a  federation,  enjoying 
delegated  authority  under  the  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment. In  Australasia,  as  in  North  America,  the 
change  consisted  in  the  upbuilding  of  one  great 
federation  out  of  several  smaller  communities, 
and  was  possible  only  because,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  Colonies  guarded  their  powers  of  local 
government  jealously,  and,  on  the  other,  because 
the  Federal  Government  had  no  wish  to  meddle 
in  purely  local  concerns. 

Each  of  the  seven  provinces  forming  the 
Dominion  has  a  separate  Parliament  and  ad- 
ministration. They  have  complete  power  to 
regulate  their  own  affairs  and  dispose  of  their 
revenues,  provided  only  that  they  do  not  inter- 
fere with  the  action  and  policy  of  the  central 
administration.  The  responsibility  of  exercising 
a  general  control  over  subordinate  provinces 
has  been  vested  in  the  Federal  Government ; 
but,  with  this  reservation,  the  Colonies  form- 
ing the  Dominion  enjoy  autonomy.  In  the 
Federal  Scheme,  the  legislative  machinery 
familiar  in  the  United  Kingdom  is  reproduced. 
The  Governor-General  represents  the  King  ;  the 


2O4        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

Upper  House  is  the  Senate,  the  members  ot 
which  are  nominated  for  life  by  the  Governor- 
General  in  Council ;  and  the  House  of  Commons 
is  the  popularly  elected  body.  Consequently 
the  provinces  have  a  voice  in  the  Dominion 
affairs  through  the  presence  of  their  representa- 
tives in  the  Federal  Legislature,  while  still 
retaining  legislative  functions  over  their  own 
provincial  affairs.  Each  province  is  presided 
over  by  a  Lieutenant-Governor,  appointed  by  the 
Governor-General  on  the  advice  of  his  Council. 
In  Quebec  and  Nova  Scotia  the  Legislature 
consists  of  two  Chambers ;  in  the  other  pro- 
vinces of  one  only — the  Legislative  Assembly, 
which  is  popularly  elected.  In  Quebec  the 
Upper  House  is  nominated  by  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  for  life ;  but  in  Nova  Scotia  both 
Houses  are  elective.  In  the  Dominion  of 
Canada  the  Imperial  Parliament  has  gone  so 
far  as  to  waive  its  claim  to  control  the  affairs  of 
the  individual  provinces.  Todd,  in  his  "  Parlia- 
mentary Government,"  records  that : — 

By  the  British  North  America  Act,  1867,  section  90,  it  is 
provided  that  the  ultimate  authority  for  determining  upon  the 
expediency  of  giving  or  withholding  the  Royal  assent  to  Bills 
passed  by  the  provincial  Legislatures  shall  be  the  Governor- 
General  of  Canada,  and  not  the  Queen.  This  declaration  of 
the  Imperial  Parliament  has  been  construed  by  the  Imperial 
Government  itself  to  be  a  virtual  relinquishment  of  the  right 
to  interfere  with  provincial  legislation  under  any  circumstances, 
and  as  vesting  in  the  Dominion  Governor  in  Council  an 
absolute  and  unlimited  responsibility  for  deciding  thereon. 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  2O5 

It  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  the  constitutions  of 
the  Commonwealth  and  Provinces  of  Australasia, 
as  they  closely  follow  the  analogy  of  Canada. 
The  main  difference  is  that  the  Federal  authority 
is  more  essentially  the  dominating  body  in 
Canada. 

It  may  be  said  that  in  the  case  of  these  great 
over-sea  Federations,  the  principle  at  work  has 
been  evolution  rather  than  devolution ;  and  that 
is  theoretically  true,  as  the  process  has  been  one 
of  building  up.  But  the  great  principle  of  devo- 
lution is  manifest  in  the  result.  Authority  is 
delegated  from  the  Imperial  Parliament  to  the 
Parliament  of  the  Federation,  and  from  it  to  the 
Parliaments  of  the  federating  Colonies. 

Another  remarkable  instance  of  devolution 
under  the  British  flag,  although  it  differs  in  some 
important  respects  from  the  other  examples 
which  have  been  given,  is  to  be  found  in  India. 
The  British  people  are  apt  to  speak  of  the 
Indian  Empire  as  though  it  were  a  concrete  unit, 
similar  in  race,  language,  and  religion,  and  social 
ideas.  Exactly  the  reverse  is  the  case.  As  Sir 
John  Strachey  has  pointed  out — 

The  differences  between  the  countries  of  Europe  are  un- 
doubtedly smaller  than  those  between  the  countries  of  India. 
Scotland  is  more  like  Spain  than  Bengal  is  like  the  Punjaub. 
European  civilization  has  grown  up  under  conditions  which 
have  produced  a  larger  measure  of  uniformity  than  has  been 
reached  in  the  countries  of  the  Indian  continent,  often 
separated  from  each  other  by  greater  distances,  by  greater 


206        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

obstacles  to  communication,  and  by  greater  differences  of 
climate.  It  is  probable  that  not  less  than  fifty  languages, 
which  may  be  rightly  called  separate,  are  spoken  in  India. 
The  diversities  of  religion  and  race  are  as  wide  in  India  as  in 
Europe  ;  and  political  catastrophies  have  been  as  frequent  and 
as  violent.  There  are  no  countries  in  civilized  Europe  in 
which  the  people  differ  so  much  as  the  man  of  Madras  differs 
from  the  Sikh;  and  the  languages  of  Southern  India  are  as 
unintelligible  in  Lahore  as  they  would  be  in  London. 

The  creation  of  a  system  of  government 
sufficiently  centralized  to  control  so  vast  and 
varied  an  Empire,  and  sufficiently  decentralized 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  numerous  races 
and  peoples  composing  it,  presented  difficulties 
far  more  formidable  than  those  confronting  us  in 
Ireland  ;  and,  but  for  the  far-sighted  wisdom  of 
a  long  line  of  able  administrators,  acting  upon  an 
intelligent  and  consistent  policy  at  home,  the 
problem  might  have  proved  insoluble  under  the 
influence  of  improved  means  of  communication, 
leading  to  greater  interchange  of  ideas,  and  of  the 
wider  diffusion  of  education.  But  for  the  circum- 
spection which  was  exhibited  in  the  past,  we 
might  be  faced  to-day  by  a  problem  not  pleasant 
to  contemplate.  British  statesmanship,  which 
has  sought  to  make  of  Ireland  a  geographical 
expression,  which  has  denied  to  her  people 
practical  participation  in  the  management  of 
their  own  affairs,  and  has  failed  so  conspicuously 
to  make  them  prosperous  and  contented,  has 
been  able  to  evolve  in  the  Indian  Empire  a 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  2OJ 

method  of  government  which,  while  not  subvert- 
ing central  authority,  has  delegated  to  localities 
and  communities  a  considerable  share  in 
administrative  work. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  Englishmen  are,  as  a 
rule,  singularly  ignorant  of  the  extent  to  which 
devolution  has  been  extended  to  India,  because 
full  knowledge  of  the  political  conditions  which 
now  obtain  throughout  the  Indian  Empire  would 
widen  the  political  horizon  of  the  British  people, 
and  give  them  matter  for  thought  and  congratu- 
lation. India  is  not  administered  by  any  system 
of  despotism  ;  nor  is  it  under  the  heel  of  a  huge 
army  of  possession.  As  Sir  Charles  Dilke  has 
pointed  out,1  India,  to  a  stay-at-home  English- 
man, appears  to  have  a  large  army;  but,  he  con- 
tinues, "when  we  consider  the  number  of  her 
population,  she  has  one  of  the  smallest  armies  in 
the  world."  Not  only  is  this  statement  absolutely 
true,  but  the  peoples  of  the  various  great  British 
provinces  have  a  large  share  in  the  management 
of  their  own  affairs,  and  the  Civil  Service  of  the 
Empire  is  almost  exclusively,  except  in  its  highest 
ranks,  in  their  own  hands.  Sir  John  Strachey2 
has  stated : — 

The  ordinary  Englishman's  notion  is  that  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  India  and  the  Viceroy  and  his  council  carry  on, 
somehow  or  other,  the  government  of  India.  Few  Englishmen 

1  "The  British  Empire,"  p.  19. 

2  "India:  its  Administration  and  Progress,"  pp.  6,  7. 


2O8        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

understand  how  comparatively  little  these  high  authorities 
have  to  do  with  the  actual  administration,  or  appreciate  the 
fact  that  the  seven  or  eight  chief  provinces  of  British  India, 
which  may  be  compared,  in  area  and  population,  to  the  chief 
countries  of  Europe,  have  all  their  separate  and,  in  a  great 
measure,  their  independent  Governments.  Under  circum- 
stances of  such  extreme  diversity  as  those  which  exist  in  India, 
no  single  system  of  administration  could  be  appropriate. 
Instead  of  introducing  unsuitable  novelties  from  other 
countries,  Indian  or  European,  we  have  taken,  in  each  pro- 
vince, with  some  unfortunate  exceptions,  the  old  local  institu- 
tions as  the  basis  of  our  own  arrangements.  Good  or  bad 
administration  in  India  depends  to  a  far  greater  extent  on  the 
Government  of  the  province  than  on  the  distant  authorities  in 
Calcutta  and  London.  The  vast  majority  of  the  population 
is  hardly  conscious  of  the  existence  of  the  Viceroy  and  his 
Government. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  trace  here  in  detail  the 
steps  by  which  successive  British  administrators 
in  India  have  given  to  the  provinces  placed  under 
their  control  a  large  measure  of  local  self-govern- 
ment. The  fact  is  that  nearly  half  a  century 
ago  the  best  minds  in  the  Indian  administration 
realized  that  over-centralization  would  prove  a 
bar  to  progress,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to 
find  some  means  of  eliciting  and  utilising  local 
opinion.  In  the  Financial  Statements  for  India 
more  than  forty  years  ago,  one  of  the  most 
far-seeing  of  Indian  councillors  (Mr.  Laing) 
remarked : — 

If  this  great  empire  is  ever  to  have  the  roads,  the  schools, 
the  local  police,  and  other  instruments  of  civilization  which  a 
flourishing  country  ought  to  possess,  it  is  simply  impossible 
that  the  Imperial  Government  can  find  either  the  money  or 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  209 

the  management.  The  mere  repair  of  the  roads,  where  any- 
thing like  a  sufficiency  of  good  roads  have  been  made,  is  a 
matter  altogether  beyond  the  reach  of  any  central  bureau.  It 
is  of  the  first  importance  to  break  through  the  habit  of  keeping 
everything  in  dependence  on  Calcutta,  and  to  teach  the  people 
not  to  look  to  the  Government  for  things  which  they  can  do 
far  better  for  themselves. 

Over  and  over  again  the  same  truth  was 
enforced,  and  in  the  Financial  Statement  for 
1877-8  Sir  John  Strachey  reiterated  that  the 
better  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  provinces 
of  India  could  be  obtained  only  by  giving  to  the 
local  Governments,  which  have  in  their  hands 
the  actual  working  of  the  great  branches  of  the 
revenue,  a  direct  and,  so  to  speak,  a  personal 
interest  in  the  management. 

It  may  be  very  wrong  (Sir  John  Strachey  remarked),  but  it 
is  true,  and  will  continue  to  be  true  while  human  nature 
remains  what  it  is,  that  the  local  authorities  take  little  interest 
in  looking  after  the  financial  affairs  of  that  abstraction,  the 
supreme  Government,  compared  with  the  interest  which  they 
take  in  matters  which  immediately  affect  the  people  whom 
they  have  to  govern. 

And  this  same  writer  added  that — 

When  local  Governments  feel  that  good  administration  of 
the  excise  and  stamps  and  other  branches  of  revenue  will  give 
to  them,  and  not  only  to  the  Government  of  India,  increased 
incomes  and  increased  means  of  carrying  out  the  improve- 
ments which  they  have  at  heart,  then,  and  not  till  then,  we 
shall  get  the  good  administration  which  we  desire,  and  with  it, 
I  am  satisfied,  we  shall  obtain  a  stronger  and  more  real 
power  of  control  on  the  part  of  the  Central  Government  than 
we  can  now  exercise. 


210         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

Thanks  to  Lord  Mayo  and  Lord  Lytton,  these 
primary  truths  met  with  full  recognition ;  and 
gradually  the  Government  of  India  was  decen- 
tralized, and  the  provincial  authorities  and  local 
administrations  were  given  greater  responsibility 
in  financial  and  administrative  work.  Slowly 
but  surely  the  Viceroys  and  their  advisers  have 
rolled  down  such  responsibilities  as  they  could 
from  their  own  shoulders  on  to  the  shoulders  of 
those  charged  with  the  administration  of  pro- 
vincial affairs.  At  the  same  time  the  Civil 
Service  of  the  country  was,  in  a  great  measure, 
thrown  open. 

No  higher  authority  can  be  quoted  on  this 
point  than  Sir  John  Strachey.  Referring  to  the 
matter,1  he  says  : — 

Although  the  highest  offices  of  control,  which  are  compara- 
tively few  in  number,  are  necessarily  held  by  Englishmen,  by 
far  the  greater,  and  a  most  important,  part  of  the  active  ad- 
ministration is  in  native  hands.  Excluding  all  the  864  offices 
to  which  I  have  already  referred  (posts  ordinarily,  but  by  no 
means  always,  held  by  the  Covenanted  Civil  Service),  and 
excluding  also  all  posts  of  minor  importance,  nearly  all  of 
which  are  held  by  natives,  there  are  about  3,700  persons  hold- 
ing offices  in  the  superior  branches  of  the  executive  and 
judicial  services,  and  among  them  there  are  only  about  100 
Europeans.  The  number  of  natives  employed  in  the  public 
service  has  gone  on  constantly  increasing,  and,  with  very  rare 
exceptions,  they  now  hold  all  offices  other  than  those  held 
by  the  comparatively  small  body  of  men  appointed  in  Eng- 
land. .  .  .  The  organization  of  our  great  and  highly 
efficient  Native  Civil  Service  is  one  of  the  most  successful 

1 "  India  :  its  Administration  and  Progress,"  pp.  82,  83. 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  211 

achievements  of  the  British  Government  in  India.  Native 
officers  manage  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the;gbusiness  con- 
nected with  all  branches  of  the  revenue,  and  withjjthe  multi- 
farious interests  in  land.  Natives  dispose  of  most  of  the 
magisterial  work.  The  duties  of  the  Civil  Courts  throughout 
India,  excepting  the  Courts  of  Appeal,  are  almost  entirely 
entrusted  to  the  native  judges.  Native  judges  sit  on  the 
Bench  in  each  of  the  High  Courts.  For  many  years  past 
native  judges  have  exercised  jurisdiction  in  all  classes  of  civil 
cases,  over  natives  and  Europeans  alike. 

In  the  history  of  the  Imperial  Government  of 
a  dependency  no  analogy  can  be  found  to  the 
breadth  of  view  and  wise  generosity  which  has 
been  shown  in  the  control  of  the  Indian  Empire. 
If  the  British  Government  had  shown  the  same 
trust  of  the  Irish  people — without  reference  to 
creed  or  politics — as  they  have  reposed  in  the 
peoples  of  India  in  giving  them  the  opportunity 
of  personal  and  responsible  service  in  the 
government  of  their  country,  the  position  of 
Ireland  to-day  would  have  been  very  different 
from  what  it  is,  and  we  should  have  heard  less 
about  "  the  English  garrison." 

India  is,  to  a  large  extent,  defended  by  its 
own  soldiers,  its  laws  administered  by  its  own 
judges,  and  its  affairs  administered  by  its  own 
servants,  and  it  now  only  remains  to  refer  to 
the  system  of  decentralization  and  localization 
by  which  administrative  and  legislative  functions 
have  been  gradually  devolved.  At  the  head  of 
the  Indian  Government  is  the  Governor-General 
in  Council.  The  ordinary  members  of  the 


212  THE    OUTLOOK   IN   IRELAND. 

Council  are  officials  appointed  by  the  Crown ; 
but  for  the  purposes  of  legislation  additional 
members  are  nominated  to  the  Council.  Not 
less  than  one-half  of  these  additional  members 
must  be  persons  not  holding  office  under  the 
Government,  and  some  of  them  are  natives  of 
India.  Under  the  Act  of  1861  the  maximum 
number  of  additional  members  was  fixed  at 
twelve.  The  same  principle  was  applied  to  the 
Legislatures  in  the  provinces.  In  1892  a  signifi- 
cant change  was  made  in  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  the  time  had  arrived  when  the  administration 
might  gain  much  advantage  if  public  opinion 
could  be  brought  more  largely  to  bear  upon  it. 
"  This,"  says  Sir  John  Strachey,  "  was  especially 
true  of  the  Provincial  Government,  the  ordinary 
business  of  which  is  of  a  kind  in  which  local 
knowledge  is  necessary,  and  on  which  the 
expression  of  intelligent,  independent  criticism 
may  often  be  very  valuable."  In  this  year  the 
number  of  additional  members  in  the  Council  of 
the  Governor-General  was  fixed  at  not  less  than 
ten  and  not  more  than  sixteen,  at  the  discretion 
of  the  Viceroy.  Of  the  sixteen  additional 
members  at  present  on  the  Council,  six  are 
official,  and  ten  are  non-official. 

Four  of  the  latter  (Sir  John  Strachey  records)  are  appointed 
by  the  Governor-General  on  the  recommendation  of  a  majority 
of  the  non-official  additional  members  of  the  Provincial  Legisla- 
tures, each  of  these  bodies  recommending  one  member.  A 
fifth  member  is  recommended  by  the  Calcutta  Chamber  of 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  213 

Commerce.  The  Governor-General  can,  if  he  thinks  fit, 
decline  to  accept  a  recommendation  thus  made,  and  in  that 
case  a  fresh  recommendation  is  submitted  to  him.  The 
remaining  five  non-official  members  are  nominated  at  the 
discretion  of  the  Governor-General,  "  in  such  manner  as  shall 
appear  to  him  most  suitable  with  reference  to  the  legislative 
business  to  be  brought  before  the  Council,  and  the  due  re- 
presentation of  the  different  classes  of  the  community."  In 
the  words  of  a  despatch  from  the  Government  of  India, 
"measures  may  at  one  time  be  before  the  Council,  relating  to 
interests  which  ought  to  be  specially  represented  in  their  dis- 
cussion ;  at  another  time  the  legislative  work  may  be  of  a 
different  description,  calling  for  the  selection  of  representatives 
from  particular  local  divisions  of  the  Empire,  or  from  persons 
chosen  to  represent  the  most  skilled  opinion  upon  large 
measures  affecting  British  India  as  a  whole."  It  is  desired 
also  to  reserve  to  the  Governor-General  the  liberty  of  inviting 
representatives  from  Native  States.  Under  the  law  as  it  stood 
before  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  1892,  there  was  no  oppor- 
tunity of  criticising  the  financial  policy  of  the  Government, 
except  on  those  occasions  when  financial  legislation  was  neces- 
sary. Under  the  rules  now  in  force,  the  annual  Financial 
Statement  must  be  made  publicly  in  the  Council ;  every 
member  is  at  liberty  to  make  any  observations  that  he  thinks 
fit ;  and  the  Financial  Member  of  the  Council  and  the 
President  have  the  right  of  reply. 

In  the  case  of  the  Governments  of  Bombay 
and  Madras,  the  additional  members  nominated 
by  the  Governors  to  join  their  Councils  for 
legislative  purposes  number  twenty,  of  whom, 
under  the  rules  laid  down,  not  more  than  nine 
can  be  officials.  To  take  the  Bombay  Council 
as  an  example  of  the  method  of  carrying  out  the 
provisions  of  the  Act  of  1892,  nominations  to 
eight  of  the  eleven  non-official  seats  are  made  by 


214        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

the  Governor  on  the  recommendation  of  various 
bodies  and  associations.  The  Corporation  of 
Bombay  and  the  Senate  of  the  University  each 
recommend  one  member,  six  members  are  nomi- 
nated by  groups  of  municipal  corporations, 
groups  of  district  local  boards,  classes  of  large 
landowners,  and  by  such  associations  of 
merchants,  manufacturers,  or  tradesmen  as  the 
Governor-General  may  prescribe ;  while  the 
remaining  non-official  members  are  nominated 
by  the  Governor  in  such  manner  as  shall,  in  his 
opinion,  secure  a  fair  representation  of  the 
different  classes  of  the  community.  In  India  we 
have  a  strong  central  authority  and  a  number 
of  provincial  governments  in  large  measure 
responsive  to  the  best  local  opinion.  Sir  John 
Strachey  has  pointed  out : — 

There  was  a  time  when  the  tendency  in  India  was  towards 
greater  centralization  ;  but  since  the  Viceroyalty  of  Lord  Mayo 
the  current  has  happily  turned  in  the  other  direction,  and  the 
Provincial  Governments  are  now  far  more  independent  than 
they  were.  This  change  has  been  mainly  the  result  of  the 
measures  of  financial  decentralization  initiated  in  1870.  .  .  . 
The  Government  of  India  now  interferes  very  little  with  the 
details  of  provincial  administration.  The  fact  is  recognized 
that  the  Provincial  Governments  necessarily  possess  far  more 
knowledge  of  local  requirements  and  conditions  than  any  to 
which  the  distant  authorities  of  the  Central  Government  can 
pretend. 

In  no  particular  has  the  principle  of  devolu- 
tion in  India  been  carried  out  with  more 
conspicuous  success  than  in  relation  to 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  215 

provincial  finance.  The  Central  Government 
fully  realize  that  the  influence  of  local  opinion 
upon  local  financial  administration  is  wise, 
healthy,  and  economical.  The  principle  which 
has  been  adopted  is  that  each  Provincial 
Government  must  be  responsible  for  the 
management  of  its  local  finances ;  and  this 
policy  has  been  carried  out  by  assigning  to  each 
province  a  certain  income  capable  of  expansion 
by  good  administration,  and  by  giving  the 
provincial  authorities,  subject  to  some  general 
conditions,  complete  power  to  spend  this  income 
as  they  think  best  in  the  interests  of  the 
territory  and  population  under  their  control. 
Periodically  what  is  known  as  a  "  settlement  "  is 
made  between  the  Central  Government  and  the 
provincial  authorities.  Under  this  "  regime  " 
local  governments  possess,  in  respect  to  local 
revenue's  and  expenditure,  the  financial  power  of 
control  which  was  exercised  by  the  Central 
Government  before  the  system  of  provincial 
finance  was  introduced.  All  revenue  and 
expenditure  are  arranged  under  the  heads 
"  Imperial "  and  "  Provincial,"  in  fixed  pro- 
portion. The  revenue  derived  from  land,  excise, 
stamps,  assigned  taxes,  and  many  other  sources 
is  shared,  in  proportions  varying  in  different 
provinces,  between  the  Central  and  Provincial 
Governments.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
provincial  ledger,  the  cost  of  administering  the 


2l6        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

various  departments  appears.  The  provinces 
have  to  meet  the  whole  outlay  incurred  in  the 
collection  of  the  chief  sources  of  revenue,  and  in 
the  administration  of  nearly  all  the  civil  services 
of  their  Governments,  which  are  charged  with 
the  responsibility  of  maintaining  all  their  services 
in  a  state  of  efficiency,  any  increased  expendi- 
ture being  met  either  from  economies  in  the 
administration  or  from  the  development  of  the 
revenues.  Receipts  and  charges  under  some 
heads  are  treated  as  wholly,  or  mainly,  Imperial ; 
among  the  former,  for  instance,  are  the  Army 
charges,  sea  customs,  and  the  public  debt. 

The  revenues  assigned  to  the  Provincial 
Governments,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  are 
such  as  they  can  develop  by  wise  administration. 
Reviewing  this  method  of  financial  devolution, 
for  which,  as  Financial  Member  of  the  Council 
during  Lord  Lytton's  Viceroyalty,  he  was  largely 
responsible,  Sir  John  Strachey  says  : — 

While  no  useful  powers  of  financial  control  have  been 
surrendered  by  the  Central  Government,  the  Provincial 
Governments  have  been  freed  from  vexatious  interference 
which  weakened  their  authority  and  efficiency,  and  their  rela- 
tions towards  the  Government  of  India  have  become  more 
harmonious.  They  are  entrusted  with  the  management  of 
those  branches  of  the  revenue  which  depend  for  their  pro- 
ductiveness on  good  administration,  and  they  have  now  a 
direct  and,  so  to  speak,  a  personal  interest  in  rendering  that 
management  as  efficient  as  possible,  because  they  know  that 
a  large  portion  of  any  increase  of  income  that  may  be  obtained 
will  be  at  their  disposal  for  useful  expenditure  within  their  own 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  2iy 

provinces.  There  has  been  obtained,  at  the  same  time,  a 
stronger  and  more  real  power  of  control  by  the  Central 
Government  than  was  before  possible. 

In  1900— i,  out  of  a  total  gross  revenue  of 
.£75,300,000,  the  Provincial  Governments  were 
entrusted  with  the  expenditure  of  £18,600,000  ; 
and  from  this  income,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  they  had  to  provide  for  the  expenditure, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  of  the  various  departments 
assigned  to  them.  The  result  has  been  re- 
markable in  its  economical  aspects.  Since  the 
Provincial  Governments  have  the  benefit  of  any 
economies  which  they  can  effect  in  the  adminis- 
tration, and  since  also  they  obtain  either  in 
whole  or  in  part  the  increase  of  revenue  which 
may  accrue  from  a  wise  development  of  their 
resources,  they  have  every  encouragement  to 
manage  their  finances  with  enterprise  and  fore- 
sight. Under  this  scheme,  India  has  made 
remarkable  progress ;  and  the  public  burdens 
are  to-day  lighter  than  they  have  ever  been. 
Taxation  furnishes  only  a  little  more  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  public  income  of  the  Empire.  In 
spite  of  the  remission  of  taxation,  the  gross 
revenues  of  India  have  increased  from  thirty- 
two  millions  in  1857,  the  last  year  of  the  East 
India  Company,  to  over  seventy-five  millions  in 
1901.  Assuredly  this  experiment  in  devolution 
in  India  has  been  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able successes  in  any  department  of  British 
administration. 


2l8        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

It  may  be  asked  what  bearing  have  these 
illustrations  of  Colonial  and  Indian  devolution 
upon  the  problem  which  Ireland  presents  to 
British  statesmen.  It  is  true  that  no  exact 
parallel  can  be  drawn  between  Ireland  and  the 
various  communities  above  mentioned.  Her 
political  status  in  reference  to  Great  Britain  is 
quite  distinct.  She  sends  representatives  to  the 
Imperial  Parliament,  and  the  others  do  not. 
Nevertheless  the  political  status  of  Ireland  is 
analogous  to  that  of  the  provinces  of  Canada, 
Australia,  and  India,  in  reference  to  their 
respective  Central  Governments ;  and  a  lesson 
well  worthy  of  study  is  to  be  found  in  the 
instances  I  have  mentioned  of  the  methods 
whereby  the  friction  arising  from  racial,  social, 
and  religious  differences  has  been  successfully 
overcome. 

In  the  Channel  Islands,  the  Isle  of  Man, 
Quebec,  and  India,  we  have  instances  of  the 
salutary  results  of  non-interference  with  existing 
customs  and  institutions,  coupled  with  self- 
governing  power  derived  from  a  superior  source. 
The  Crown  Colonies  are  cases  of  communities 
enjoying  a  limited  amount  of  autonomy.  To 
the  self-governing  Colonies  a  larger  amount  of 
autonomy  has  been  granted ;  and  the  Dominion 
of  Canada  and  the  Commonwealth  of  Australia 
are  examples  of  the  development  of  devolution 
to  the  fullest  possible  extent.  In  all  these  cases 


MODELS    OF   DEVOLUTION.  2 19 

the  principle  works  well ;  and  the  lesson  to  be 
deduced  from  them  is  that  the  great  principle 
of  devolution  is  capable  of  application  in  various 
degrees  to  communities  varying  to  an  infinite 
extent,  and  that  the  result  is  good.  In  Ireland 
we  have  an  example  of  perpetual  interference 
with  existing  customs  and  institutions,  and  of 
the  negation  of  self-governing  power,  and  the 
result  is  bad.  The  assumption  that  devolution 
cannot  with  advantage  be  extended  to  Ireland, 
may  be  tnie ;  but  certainly  it  is  contrary  to  all 
the  evidence  derived  from  experience  throughout 
the  Empire. 

The  position  of  Ireland  is  quite  peculiar,  and 
the  problem  to  be  solved  consequently  is 
peculiar  also.  She  is  represented  in  the  Im- 
perial Parliament,  and  must,  for  many  reasons 
already  mentioned,  continue  to  be  so  repre- 
sented. The  mistake  that  has  been  made 
consists  in  the  assumption  that  the  amalga- 
mation of  Legislatures  implied  the  absorption 
of  Ireland  by  Great  Britain,  and  that  legisla- 
tive union  involved  the  transference  of  all 
Irish  local  business  to  the  Imperial  Parliament. 
Ireland  cannot  be  absorbed  or  obliterated.  Her 
affairs  cannot  be  attended  to  by  the  Imperial 
Parliament.  Her  non-political  position  in  rela- 
tion to  Great  Britain  is  very  similar  to  that  of 
Quebec  in  reference  to  Canada,  or  to  that  of  the 
provinces  of  India  to  the  Central  Government. 


22O  THE    OUTLOOK   IN    IRELAND. 

Ireland  contains  a  population  which  is  racially 
different  in  almost  all  respects  from  the  people  of 
Great  Britain  ;  and  the  financial,  commercial, 
and  social  problems  of  the  two  countries  are 
distinct,  and  demand  different  methods  of 
solution. 

Ireland  is  an  agricultural  country,  and  Great 
Britain  a  manufacturing  country.  Ireland  is  the 
"Quebec"  of  the  United  Kingdom.  Like 
Quebec,  it  is  peopled  by  a  race  alien  in  customs 
and  religion  to  the  British  people.  Like  Quebec, 
it  sends  representatives  to  the  central  legis- 
lative assembly ;  but,  unlike  Quebec,  it  has 
little  control  over  its  local  affairs.  Quebec  is 
contented,  happy,  and  prosperous.  Ireland  is 
discontented,  unhappy,  and  not  prosperous.  The 
difference  is  remarkable  ;  the  cause  not  far  to 
seek. 

Devolution,  in  a  sense,  has  been  and  is  applied 
to  Ireland,  but  it  is  devolution  of  the  wrong 
type.  Between  the  Parliament  at  Westminster 
and  the  Irish  people,  the  most  expensive, 
wasteful,  incongruous,  unsympathetic  system  of 
government  ever  devised  by  man  is  interposed. 
The  government  of  Ireland  is  placed  under  the 
control  nominally  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant — a 
nominee  of  the  political  party  which  happens  to 
be  in  the  majority  in  the  Imperial  Parliament,  and 
exercising  but  little  power  except  over  the  police 
and  judiciary.  In  almost  all  essential  respects, 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  221 

the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland  differs  from 
the  Governors  who  preside  over  the  Channel 
Islands  and  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  the  Governors- 
General,  or  the  Lieutenant-Governors,  who 
preside  over  the  federal  and  provisional  adminis- 
trations in  the  Colonies.  The  administration  of 
the  country  is  in  the  hands  of  a  number  of 
Boards  and  spending  Departments,  some  quite 
irresponsible,  and  others  practically  responsible 
only  to  the  Treasury  Board  in  London.  Power 
has  been  devolved  upon  an  irresponsible  bureau- 
cracy, a  very  different  form  of  devolution  from 
that  which  has  succeeded  so  admirably  throughout 
the  Empire. 

In  view  of  the  wide  measures  of  self-govern- 
ment which  have  been  universally  conceded 
throughout  the  Empire,  and  which  have  been 
retained  in  the  Isle  of  Man  and  the  Channel 
Islands,  it  is  a  gross  absurdity  for  any  apologist 
for  the  present  inefficient  administration  of  Irish 
affairs  to  claim  that  proposals  to  confer  upon 
Ireland  such  financial  control  and  such  legislative 
functions  as  may  be  compatible  with  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Union,  and  with  the  supremacy  of 
Parliament,  would  endanger  the  integrity  of  the 
Empire,  or  undermine  the  Act  of  Union.  Ireland 
is  to-day  poor,  discontented,  and  depressed, 
largely  because  the  people  of  the  country  have 
little  voice  in  the  control  of  their  own  affairs,  which 
they  alone  are  best  fitted  to  understand,  and  have 


222         THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

no  incentive  to  co-operate  in  effecting  economies. 
Until  the  healthy  influence  of  public  opinion  is 
brought  to  bear  upon  Irish  administration  and 
Irish  finance,  the  country  will  continue  to  be  the 
most  expensively  administered  in  the  world,  and 
Ireland  will  remain  a  bar  in  the  Imperial 
Parliament  to  the  solution  of  those  Imperial 
and  British  problems  which  urgently  require 
attention.  By  conceding  to  Ireland  some  such 
measure  of  self-government  Great  Britain  will  be 
at  least  making  an  effort  to  remove  a  reproach 
from  her  history ;  and,  by  freeing  the  Imperial 
Parliament  from  the  intrusion  of  Irish  local 
affairs,  will  enable  it  to  deal  with  matters  more 
legitimately  suitable  for  deliberation  in  the  first 
legislative  assembly  in  the  world. 

In  the  face  of  such  amazing  illustrations  of 
the  success  attending  devolution  as  those  which 
have  been  mentioned,  what  valid  excuse  can  be 
found  for  the  frenzied  opposition  with  which  the 
suggestion  that  the  Imperial  Parliament  should 
delegate  to  Ireland  a  larger  measure  of  local 
government  has  been  met  ?  It  may  be  said 
that  the  Colonies  enjoy  the  highest  possible 
measure  of  devolution  because  they  are  far  re- 
moved from  the  mother  country.  This  argu- 
ment does  not  apply  to  the  Channel  Isles  or  to 
the  Isle  of  Man  ;  and  in  the  case  even  of  Canada, 
it  may  be  recalled  that  the  Dominion  to-day  is 
as  near  to  London  in  point  of  time  as  Ireland 


MODELS    OF    DEVOLUTION.  223 

was  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago.  The  British  Colo- 
nies have  been  granted  local  self-government, 
not  because  of  the  distance  which  separates  them 
from  London,  but  from  the  fact  that  our  fore- 
fathers realized  that  in  the  Colonies  different 
conditions  existed,  and  that  local  governing 
bodies  were  best  able  to  adapt  local  institutions 
to  the  needs  of  the  people.  This  principle  has 
been  carried  out  practically  everywhere  except 
in  Ireland,  and  we  see  the  results. 

Devolution  has  been  applied  to  ever}7  part 
of  the  British  Empire,  and  it  has  prospered ; 
devolution  has  not  been  applied  to  Ireland, 
and  she  does  not  prosper.  The  electors  of 
the  United  Kingdom  must  sooner  or  later 
decide  whether  Ireland  is  to  continue  her  down- 
ward tendency,  whether  the  poorhouses  and 
lunatic  asylums  are  to  go  on  enlarging  their 
accommodation,  whether  the  emigration  ships 
shall  continue  to  take  away  all  that  is  brightest 
and  best  of  the  people,  whether  trade  is  to  remain 
stagnant,  or  whether  an  effort  shall  be  made  to 
back  the  people  in  their  own  efforts  to  rescue  the 
country  from  decay.  Owing  to  the  tendencies 
which  are  at  work  in  Ireland,  the  problem 
becomes  more  and  more  difficult  of  solution. 
The  intellectually  and  physically  rich  material 
by  which  the  rejuvenation  of  the  country  must 
be  carried  out  is  becoming  scarcer  every  day. 


224  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

Year  by  year,  a  heavy  load  of  taxation  presses 
with  increasing  severity  upon  a  waning  popula- 
tion, and  the  contribution  of  Ireland  to  Imperial 
purposes  becomes  less  and  less.  Ireland,  instead 
of  being,  as  she  ought  to  be,  a  willing  helper, 
will  become  a  financial  difficulty  to  Great  Britain, 
a  drag  and  hindrance  to  the  progress  and 
development  of  the  Empire. 


DEVOLUTION    AND    UNIONISM.  225 


CHAPTER  X. 

DEVOLUTION   AND    UNIONISM  ;    A    CONSISTENT 
POLICY. 

WHATEVER  may  be  said  of  devolution  on  its 
merits,  I  claim  for  it  that  it  is  at  any  rate 
consistent  with  the  policy  which  found  accep- 
tance among  Unionists  even  at  a  time  when 
Ireland  was  convulsed  with  disorder,  and  the 
chances  of  beneficial  results  following  upon  re- 
form were  exceedingly  remote.  Twenty  years 
ago,  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  the  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire (then  the  Marquis  of  Hartington)  were  the 
recognized  leaders  of  those  who  seceded  from 
Mr.  Gladstone ;  and  in  support  of  my  claim  of 
consistency  for  devolution,  I  cannot  turn  to  a 
better  authority  than  Mr.  Chamberlain  himself, 
who  was  not  only  the  first  exponent  of  the 
principle,  but  also  the  author  of  the  word 
"  devolution,"  as  applied  to  Ireland.  In  a 
manifesto  to  his  supporters,  issued  on  June  nth, 
I886,1  he  said: — 
The  objects  to  be  kept  in  view  are  : — 

i.  To  relieve  the  Imperial  Parliament  by  devolution  of 

Irish  local  business,  and  to  set  it  free  for  other  and 

more  important  work. 

1 "  Home  Rule  and  the  Irish  Question."     (London  :  Swan, 
Sonnenschein.) 

Q 


226  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

2.  To  secure  the  free  representation  of  Irish  opinion  in 

all  matters  of  purely  Irish  concern. 

3.  To  offer  to  Irishmen  a  fair  field  for  legitimate  local 

ambition  and  patriotism,  and  to  bring  back  the 
attention  of  the  Irish  people,  now  diverted  to  a 
barren  conflict  in  the  Imperial  Parliament,  to  the 
practical  consideration  of  their  own  wants  and 
necessities. 

And,  lastly,  by  removing  all  unnecessary  interference  with 
Irish  Government  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  to 
diminish  the  causes  of  irritation  and  the  opportunity 
of  collision. 

These  were  the  aims  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  in 
1886,  and  they  are  the  aims  of  devolutionists 
to-day.  We  appeal  to  the  moderate  opinion 
in  Great  Britain  for  "  a  delegation,  not  a 
surrender,  of  power"1  on  the  part  of  the 
Imperial  Parliament;  and  we,  in  common  with 
Mr.  Chamberlain  in  i886,2  consider  that  "if  the 
representation  of  Ireland  at  Westminster  were 
maintained  on  its  present  footing,  if  Irishmen 
were  allowed  to  vote  and  speak  on  all  subjects 
not  specially  referred  to  them  at  Dublin,  then 
they  would  remain  an  integral  part  of  this 
Imperial  realm ;  they  would  have  their  share  in 
its  privileges,  and  their  responsibility  for  its 
burdens."  "In  that  case,"  said  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain in  i8862 — and  the  Irish  Reform  Association 
merely  echoes  his  words  to-day — "  the  Imperial 
Parliament  would  be  able  to  maintain  its  control 

1 "  Home  Rule  and  the  Irish  Question,"  p.  132. 
a  Idem,  p.  95. 


DEVOLUTION    AND    UNIONISM.  227 

over  Imperial  taxation  in  Ireland,  and  for  all 
Imperial  purposes  the  Parliament  at  Westminster 
would  speak  for  a  United  Kingdom." 

The  Irish  Reform  Association  is  not  prepared 
to  quarrel  with  either  the  one  side  or  the  other 
as  to  the  name  which  should  be  given  to  the 
body  set  up  in  Dublin  to  manage  local  affairs : 
they  agree,  however,  with  Mr.  Chamberlain,  that 
"the  legislative  authority  in  Dublin" — it  maybe 
called  a  Parliament — "will  be  a  subordinate  and 
not  a  co-equal  authority." 

Mr.  Chamberlain  outlined  his  views  on  Irish 
policy  at  a  time  when  Ireland  was  not  peaceful, 
when  the  bitter  political  feelings  aroused  by  the 
Repeal  agitation  still  influenced  men's  minds  on 
both  sides  of  the  Irish  Sea,  when  the  land  war 
was  at  its  height,  and  when  social  disorder  was 
prevalent. 

It  was  at  this  period  also  that  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire  (then  the  Marquis  of  Hartington) 
expressed  himself  in  favour  of  devolution,  pro- 
vided that  "  the  powers  which  may  be  conferred 
on  local  bodies  should  be  delegated — not  sur- 
rendered— by  Parliament";  that  "the  subjects 
to  be  delegated  should  be  clearly  defined ;  and 
the  right  of  Parliament  to  control  and  revise 
the  action  of  legislative  or  administrative  autho- 
rities should  be  quite  clearly  reserved" ;  and 
that  "  the  administration  of  justice  ought  to 


228        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

remain  in  the  hands  of  an  authority  which  is 
responsible  to  Parliament. ' '  The  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire admitted  that  this  might  not  satisfy  the 
demands  of  the  Nationalists;  but  "  if  the  great 
majority  of  the  people  of  the  United  Kingdom 
.  .  .  firmly  declare  .  .  .  that  they  are  ready  to 
give  to  Ireland  as  large  a  measure  of  self-govern- 
ment as  is  consistent  with  the  Union,  it  remains 
to  be  proved  whether  the  Irish  people  will  be 
persuaded  to  maintain  a  hopeless  and  unneces- 
sary contest." 

My  object  in  quoting  these  very  definite  state- 
ments is  to  show  that  the  policy  which  was  out- 
lined by  the  recognized  leaders  of  the  Liberal 
Unionist  party  twenty  years  ago  is  in  all 
essentials  the  same  as  the  policy  of  the  Irish 
Reform  Association  of  to-day.  They  then  desired 
"  to  relieve  the  Imperial  Parliament  by  devolu- 
tion of  Irish  local  business,"  and  "  to  give  to 
Ireland  as  large  a  measure  of  self-government  as 
is  consistent  with  the  Union."  Our  desires  now 
cannot  be  more  clearly  or  concisely  expressed. 
This  policy  of  moderation  and  conciliation  was 
not  enunciated  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  and 
Mr.  Chamberlain  as  a  mere  party  manoeuvre  to 
suit  the  exigencies  of  the  hour ;  nor  was  it  con- 
fined to  politics.  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  particular 
remained  consistent  in  his  adherence  to  a  pro- 
gressive and  intelligent  Unionist  policy.  Writing, 


DEVOLUTION   AND    UNIONISM.  22Q 

in    1888,  a  preface  to  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  A 
Unionist  Policy  for  Ireland,"  he  remarked  : — 

He  must  be  a  blind  student  of  history,  and  especially  of  Irish 
history,  who  believes  that  a  merely  negative  policy  can  do  more 
than  produce  a  temporary  result,  or  that  coercion  in  any  form 
is  a  specific  against  widespread  discontent,  or  a  remedy  for 
grievances  that  have  a  real  foundation.  .  .  .  Liberal  Unionists 
then — because  there  are  Liberal  and  Conservative  Unionists — 
because  they  are  Unionists  must  alike  recognize  the  necessity 
for  seeking  for  some  permanent  remedy  for  Irish  discontent, 
and  the  first  step  must  be  to  discover  its  material  cause.  Does 
there  exist  a  statesman  or  politician  who  is  not,  in  his  own 
mind,  convinced  that  the  material  causes  are  economic  and 
agrarian  ?  .  .  .  If  we  are  to  continue  to  govern  Ireland  as  a 
part  of  the  United  Kingdom,  we  must  do  for  Ireland  at  least 
as  much  as  a  patriotic  and  capable  Irish  Parliament  would 
accomplish.  Because  England  is  the  richest  country  in  the 
world,  and  because  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  is  the  most  energetic 
and  pushing  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  we  have  no  right  to 
conclude  that  public  works,  which  are  safely  left  to  individual 
energy  and  private  speculation  here,  can  be  entrusted  to 
similar  agencies  in  Ireland. 

Here,  again,  I  must  hasten  to  give  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain credit  for  being  the  first  to  lay  down  two 
principles  of  the  utmost  importance  which  I 
have,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  consistently 
advocated : — 

(i)  That  the  Imperial  Parliament  must  do 
at  least  as  much  as  a  patriotic  and 
capable  Irish  Parliament  would  ac- 
complish. Has  it  done  so  in,  for 
instance,  the  matter  of  higher  educa- 
tion? 


230  THE    OUTLOOK   IN    IRELAND. 

(2)  That  the  circumstances  of  Ireland  being- 
exceptional,  she  has  a  moral  claim 
and,  under  the  Act  of  Union,  a 
statutory  claim,  to  exceptional  treat- 
ment. Has  that  claim  been  recog- 
nized? Only  to  a  very  limited  extent. 

Dealing  with  Land  Purchase,  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain continued : — 

It  is  clear  that  suggested  land  reform  must  precede  the 
political  change ;  and  until  the  long-standing  quarrel  between 
land-owners  and  land-occupiers  has  been  compounded,  it 
will  not  be  safe  to  trust  the  latter  with  full  control  over 

the  property  of  the  former But  assuming  that  the 

social  war  which  now  exists  in  Ireland  were  terminated  by  a 
reasonable  settlement,  there  are  strong  reasons  for  desiring,  on 
the  one  hand,  to  relieve  the  Imperial  Parliament  of  some  of 
the  constantly  increasing  burden  of  its  local  work,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  open  up  to  Irishmen  in  their  own  country  a 
larger  field  of  local  ambition,  together  with  greater  liberty  of 
action  and  greater  personal  responsibility.  Such  a  result  is 
surely  not  beyond  the  reach  of  statesmanship,  and  might  be 
effected  without  in  the  least  impairing  the  authority  of 
Parliament,  and  without  creating  Legislatures  which,  from  their 
nature,  would  infallibly  tend  to  become  co-ordinate  powers. 

There  is  the  policy  of  the  Irish  Reform 
Association  clearly  set  forth ;  and  the  time 
has  come  for  its  realization.  The  opportunity 
sought  for  by  Mr.  Chamberlain  is  present  with 
us.  He  desired  first  to  see  a  reasonable  settle- 
ment of  the  Land  Question.  The  Land  Question 
is  in  course  of  a  reasonable  settlement.  Why, 
then,  should  Unionists  refuse  to  "  relieve  the 


DEVOLUTION   AND    UNIONISM.  231 

Imperial  Parliament"?  Why  deny  "to  Irish- 
men in  their  own  country  a  larger  field  of  local 
ambition,  together  with  greater  liberty  of  action 
and  greater  personal  responsibility"  ?  What  are 
the  principal  planks  in  our  platform  ?  That  the 
spirit  of  the  Act  of  Union  should  be  acted  upon  ; 
that  the  exceptional  circumstances  of  Ireland 
require  exceptional  treatment;  and  that  public 
money  that  can  be  profitably  employed  in 
developing  the  country  should  be  devoted  to 
that  purpose;  that  such  questions  as  Education 
should  be  justly  and  generously  settled  by  the 
Imperial  Parliament ;  that  the  Land  Question 
should  be  settled  in  the  spirit  and  according  to 
the  terms  of  the  Land  Conference  Report ;  that 
Ireland  should  be  given  the  largest  possible 
amount  of  self-governing  power  consistent  with 
the  supremacy  of  Parliament  and  the  maintenance 
of  the  Union.  Such  are  our  proposals,  and  they 
are  practically  identical  with  those  put  forward 
by  Unionists  twenty  years  ago. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  described  himself  in  1886 
as  being  and  having  always  been  a  Home 
Ruler,  but  not  in  the  Gladstonian  sense. 
Mr.  Gladstone's  Bill  was  not,  he  said,  Home 
Rule ;  it  was  Separation.  He  was  a  devolutionist, 
and  even  as  recently  as  April,  1893,  in  the  course 
of  an  article  in  "The  Nineteenth  Century," 
he  stated  that  "  Every  Liberal  Unionist  will 
readily  agree"  with  a  desire  "  to  give  to  Ireland 


232  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

the  management  of  such  of  its  affairs  as  can  be 
handed  over  to  an  Irish  Assembly  without  any 
risk  or  danger  to  this  country,  and,  I  hope  that 
I  may  add,  without  the  loss  of  honour  that  would 
be  involved  if  the  property  and  the  liberties  of 
all  Her  Majesty's  subjects  were  not  fully 
safeguarded." 

The  proposals  of  the  Irish  Reform  Association 
fulfil  the  conditions  laid  down  long  ago  by  the 
recognized  leaders  of  the  Liberal  wing  of  the 
Unionist  party,  tacitly  accepted,  to  say  the  very 
least  of  it,  by  the  Conservative  wing,  and 
tentatively  acted  upon  by  the  whole  party 
up  to  a  quite  recent  date.  It  is  difficult  to 
perceive  any  material  difference  between  those 
proposals  and  the  general  terms  of  the  agreement 
entered  into  in  1902  between  Mr.  Wyndham  and 
Sir  Antony  MacDonnell  (Appendix  VI).  It  is 
true  that  in  the  latter  "  the  co-ordination, 
control,  and  direction  of  boards  and  other 
administrative  agencies"  is  mentioned.  This 
is  a  somewhat  cryptic  utterance,  and  it  may 
well  be  that  the  proposals  of  the  Irish  Reform 
Association  were  in  advance  of  the  ideas  enter- 
tained by  Mr.  Wyndham  and  Sir  Antony 
MacDonnell ;  though  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how 
boards  and  administrative  agencies  at  present 
controlled  by  the  Treasury  are  to  be  otherwise 
controlled  except  by  means  of  a  transfer  of 
control  and  direction  from  the  Treasury  to  a 


DEVOLUTION   AND    UNIONISM.  233 

local  body  in  Ireland.  The  aims  of  the  Irish 
Reform  Association — as  contained  in  the  resolu- 
tion of  August  3ist,  1904 — may  be  set  forth 
here  once  more  for  the  purpose  of  comparison. 
The  more  detailed  suggestions  will  be  found  in 
Appendix  I. 

Believing  as  we  do  that  the  prosperity  of  the  people  of 
Ireland,  the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  country,  and 
the  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  Land  and  other  questions, 
depend  upon  the  pursuance  of  a  policy  of  conciliation  and 
good-will  and  of  reform,  we  desire  to  do  everything  in  our 
power  to  promote  a  union  of  all  moderate  and  progressive 
opinion,  irrespective  of  creed  or  class  ;  to  discourage  sectarian 
strife  and  class  animosities  from  whatever  source  arising;  to 
co-operate  in  re-creating  and  promoting  industrial  enterprises ; 
and  to  advocate  all  practical  measures  of  reform. 

While  firmly  maintaining  that  the  Parliamentary  Union 
between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  is  essential  to  the  political 
stability  of  the  Empire,  and  to  the  prosperity  of  the  two 
islands,  we  believe  that  such  union  is  compatible  with  the 
devolution  to  Ireland  of  a  larger  measure  of  local  government 
than  she  now  possesses. 

We  consider  that  this  devolution,  while  avoiding  matters  of 
Imperial  concern,  and  subjects  of  common  interest  to  the 
Kingdom  as  a  whole,  would  be  beneficial  to  Ireland,  and 
would  relieve  the  Imperial  Parliament  of  a  mass  of  business 
with  which  it  cannot  now  deal  satisfactorily,  and  which 
occupies  its  time  to  the  detriment  of  much  more  important 
concerns.  In  particular,  we  consider  the  present  system  of 
financial  administration  to  be  wasteful  and  inappreciative  of 
the  needs  of  the  country. 

We  think  it  possible  to  devise  a  system  of  Irish  finance 
whereby  the  expenditure  could  be  conducted  in  a  more 
efficient  and  economic  manner,  and  whereby  the  sources  of 
revenue  might  be  expanded.  We  believe  that  a  remedy  for  the 
present  unsatisfactory  system  can  be  found  in  such  a  decen- 
tralization or  localization  of  Irish  finance  as  will  secure  to  its 


234  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

administration  the  application  of  local  knowledge,  interest,  and 
ability,  without  in  any  way  sacrificing  the  ultimate  control  over 
the  estimates  presented,  or  in  respect  of  the  audit  of  money 
expended,  at  present  possessed  by  the  Imperial  Parliament. 
All  moneys  derived  from  administrative  reform,  together  with 
whatever  proportion  of  the  general  revenue  is  allocated  to 
Irish  purposes,  should  be  administered  subject  to  the  above 
conditions. 

We  think  that  the  time  has  come  to  extend  to  Ireland  the 
system  of  Private  Bill  Legislation  which  has  been  so  success- 
fully worked  in  Scotland,  with  such  modifications  as  Scotch 
experience  may  suggest,  as  may  be  necessary  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  this  country. 

We  are  of  opinion  that  a  settlement  of  the  question  of  higher 
education  is  urgently  needed,  and  that  the  whole  system  of 
education  in  this  country  requires  remodelling  and  co-ordinating. 

We  desire  to  do  all  in  our  power  to  further  the  policy  of 
land-purchase  in  the  spirit  of,  and  on  the  general  lines  laid 
down  in,  the  Land  Conference  Report. 

We  consider  that  suitable  provision  for  the  housing  of  the 
labouring  classes  is  of  the  utmost  importance  ;  and  we  shall  be 
prepared  to  co-operate  in  any  practical  proposals  having  the 
betterment  of  that  class  in  view. 

Among  many  other  problems  already  existing,  or  which  may 
arise  in  the  future,  the  above-mentioned  appear  to  us  to  com- 
prise those  most  deserving  of  immediate  attention,  and  which 
afford  the  most  reasonable  prospect  of  attaining  practical 
results  ;  towards  their  solution  we  earnestly  invite  the  co- 
operation of  all  Irishmen  who  have  the  highest  interests  of 
their  country  at  heart. 

It  is  difficult  to  discover  any  material  differ- 
ence between  the  attitude  of  Unionists  twenty 
years  ago  and  that  of  the  Irish  Reform  Asso- 
ciation to-day;  impossible  to  exaggerate  the 
difference  between  the  former  wise,  constructive, 
Unionist  policy  and  the  foolish  policy  of  mere 


DEVOLUTION    AND    UNIONISM.  235 

negation  adopted  shortly  before  the  last  General 
Election  by  official  Unionism.  If  any  of  my 
Unionist  friends  in  authority  do  me  the  honour 
of  perusing  these  pages,  I  would  ask  of  them  a 
plain  answer  to  a  plain  question.  What  has 
occurred  in  Ireland  to  justify  so  great  a  reaction- 
ary change?  When  official  Unionism  advocated 
devolution,  the  condition  of  Ireland  was  deplorable 
and  dangerous :  agrarian  war  was  at  its  height ; 
the  law  was  openly  defied ;  outrage  was  the  only 
argument;  the  country  was  "  marching  through 
rapine  to  the  dismemberment  of  the  Empire." 
Now  that  official  Unionism  repudiates  devolu- 
tion, the  Land  Question  is  in  course  of  settlement; 
the  country  is  tranquil;  a  conciliatory  spirit  is 
active  and  growing;  and  a  strong  disposition 
towards  constitutional  agitation  for  the  redress 
of  grievances  is  manifesting  itself.  No  redress 
in  deference  to  peaceful,  constitutional  methods ; 
outrage  the  only  remedy ;  crime  the  only  cure — 
what  a  ghastly  lesson  to  teach  a  people!  To 
placate  the  remnant  of  the  old  ascendancy  party, 
and  secure  some  half-a-dozen  votes  at  a  critical 
moment  of  their  waning  career,  the  Irish  policy  of 
the  late  Government  was  reversed.  To  rally  their 
scattered  forces  before  an  election,  the  former 
policy  of  constructive  reform  was  dubbed  repeal, 
and  "coercion" — "  no  reform"  are  the  cries. 
A  strange  method,  indeed,  of  teaching  the  Irish 
people  to  appeal  with  confidence  to  the  sense  of 


236  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

justice  and  fair  play.  Progress  and  construction 
were  the  keynotes  of  Unionist  policy.  In  an  evil 
moment  that  policy  was  abandoned.  I  deeply 
regret  it.  In  a  good  moment  the  party  in  power 
took  up  that  policy,  and  I  greatly  rejoice,  for 
policy  is  more  important  than  party  in  my  eyes. 
My  party,  in  what  I  trust  may  prove  to  have 
been  a  moment  of  temporary  aberration  of  intel- 
lect, turned  their  coats  inside  out ;  I  am  fain  to 
believe  that  when  sanity  reasserts  itself  they  will 
turn  them  inside  in  again.  They  surely  cannot 
long  continue  false  to  themselves,  untrue  to  their 
tradition,  to  the  whole  set  and  tendency  of 
their  general  policy,  and  deaf  to  the  dictates  of 
common-sense.  For  the  present  the  mission  has 
fallen  into  other  hands,  and  with  all  my  heart  I 
wish  them  God  speed  in  it ;  but  I  hope,  and  I 
think  I  am  justified  in  hoping,  that  at  long  last 
there  is  a  reasonable  chance  of  continuity  in 
Irish  policy,  and  that  it  is  legitimate  to  expect 
that  Ireland  —  her  problems,  difficulties,  and 
needs — will  be  fairly  dealt  with  by  both  great 
political  parties,  and  with  mutual  consent. 


FINAL  WORDS.  237 


CHAPTER    XI. 

FINAL   WORDS. 

I  AM  a  landlord,  a  Protestant,  and  a  Unionist. 
I  hold  to  my  class,  my  creed,  and  my  political 
faith.  I  know  that  class  and  creed  must  rely 
upon  their  intrinsic  merits,  and  will  perish  under 
the  false  stimulus  of  privilege.  I  believe  that 
Unionism  must  justify  itself  in  its  results,  and 
must  wither  under  a  policy  of  mere  negation. 
I  repudiate  with  what  strength  is  in  me  the 
iniquitous  attempts  to  use  Ireland  as  a  mere 
pawn  in  the  political  game,  to  prejudice  the 
people  of  Great  Britain  against  her  by  placing 
an  utterly  false  presentment  of  her  before  them, 
and  to  drive  her  people  out  of  the  path  of  con- 
ciliation, and  of  constitutional  demand,  back  into 
the  old  lamentable  methods  of  disorder  and  crime. 
As  soon  as  Ireland  began  to  recover  from  the 
wounds  which  the  struggle  for  Repeal  had  left 
upon  her,  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour,  as  Chief  Secretary 
for  Ireland,  initiated  a  new  policy  of  conciliation 
and  redress.  He  perceived  that  money  was 
urgently  needed,  and  could  be  profitably  em- 
ployed in  developing  the  country ;  and  much 
good  work  was  done  in  opening  up  the  more 


238  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

backward  parts  by  light  railways  and  other 
means.  This  policy  was  continued  by  Mr.  Gerald 
Balfour,  and  was  amplified  by  the  application  to 
Ireland  of  the  Local  Government  Act,  the  benefits 
of  which  England  had  for  some  time  enjoyed. 
The  Act  of  1898  substituted  a  democratic 
body — the  County  Councils — for  the  Grand 
Juries  which  had  attended  to  county  business, 
and  the  total  result  has  proved  decidedly 
good.  I  have  heard  it  said  indeed,  in  many 
quarters,  that  the  Act  works  better — more  econo- 
mically— in  Ireland  than  in  the  sister  kingdom. 
Irish  County  Councillors  evince,  for  the  most 
part,  a  touching  regard  for  the  rates,  and  are 
economically  inclined.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
England,  where  they  have  more  to  spend,  and 
have  better  opportunities  of  borrowing,  County 
Councils  are  more  luxuriously  disposed.  As  a 
consequence,  the  amount  of  local  taxation  and 
local  debt  has  now  become  notorious  in  England, 
and  is  large  enough  almost  to  shake  the  founda- 
tions of  municipal  credit. 

The  Local  Government  Act,  which  conceded 
to  the  Irish  people  the  privilege,  or  rather  the 
right,  of  self-government  in  purely  local  affairs, 
is  working  well.  It  is  true  that  Councils  contain 
some  self-advertising  and  ignorant  agitators  of 
the  Thersites  type,  who  delight  in  displaying 
the  vitriolic  qualities  of  rhetoric  in  and  out  of 
season;  but,  nevertheless,  it  cannot  be  denied 


FINAL  WORDS.  239 

that  the  County  Councils  do  their  work  well, 
and  have  had  immense  educational  value  in 
teaching  the  people  of  Ireland  the  important 
lessons  to  be  derived,  and  to  be  alone  derived, 
from  responsibility  for  the  conduct  of  their  own 
affairs. 

Mr.  Wyndham  carried  on  the  work  of  wise, 
constructive  reform.  His  programme  during 
office  comprised  endeavours  to  deal  with  many 
of  the  social  problems  affecting  Ireland,  and 
among  them  the  determination  to  settle  the  great 
grievance,  which,  among  all  Ireland's  grievances, 
cried  most  clamantly  for  redress,  namely,  the 
Land  Question.  He  desired  to  make  a  gradual 
but  complete  revolution  in  the  system  of  tenure, 
to  abolish  dual  ownership — a  pernicious  system 
— and  to  restore  single  ownership  by  enabling 
the  occupying  tenants  to  offer  a  fair  price  for 
the  freehold  of  their  farms  by  means  of  money 
advanced  to  them  by  the  State  on  easy  terms. 
For  such  a  scheme  to  be  successful  it  was 
obviously  necessary  that  it  should  meet  with,  at 
any  rate,  a  large  measure  of  general  approval ; 
and,  to  ascertain  whether  such  was  likely  to  be 
the  case,  it  was  suggested  that  a  conference  of 
representatives  of  the  interested  parties  should 
be  convened.  When  this  suggestion  was  first 
mooted,  great  was  the  incredulity  which  greeted 
its  chances  of  fulfilment.  The  sitting  of  this  Con- 
ference was  the  most  remarkable  and  significant 


240        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

fact  in  Irish  politics  in  the  last  fifty  years.  Here 
were  to  be  observed  representatives  of  the  most 
discordant  and  antipathetic  sections  of  Irishmen, 
sitting  peacefully  and  amiably  in  conference, 
searching  for  some  solution  which  might  supply 
the  wants  and  heal  the  wounds  of  all  parties. 
Here  were  Nationalist  and  Unionist,  Protestant 
and  Catholic,  representatives  of  landlord  and 
tenant — discordant  enough  elements  in  all  con- 
science— and  yet  the  good  sense  and  conciliatory 
spirit  with  which  the  leaders  of  all  sections  were 
imbued  were  such  as  to  carry  through  their 
deliberations  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion. 

The  sitting  of  this  Conference,  and  its  suc- 
cessful issue,  is  the  greatest  political  event  in 
Irish  history  in  modern  times,  not  so  much  on 
account  of  the  legislation  which  was  one  of  its 
immediate  results,  but  because  the  success  of 
the  Conference  was  a  demonstration  of  a  fact 
which  up  to  that  time  was  conceived  to  be  non- 
existent— namely,  that  Irishmen  of  all  shades  of 
opinion  could  agree  to  try  and  settle  their 
differences,  and  to  heal  the  wounds  of  Ireland  by 
a  method  of  patriotic  co-operation.  If  this 
applied  in  the  case  of  the  Land  Question — a 
subject  of  contention  more  bitter  than  any  other, 
and  more  prolific  of  strife— it  is  surely  permissible 
to  hope  that  other  outstanding  difficulties  may 
be  settled  in  a  similar  spirit.  The  Land  Con- 
ference established  a  fact  infinitely  potent  for 


FINAL  WORDS.  241 

good ;  and  it  is  my  belief  that  if  the  spirit  of 
conciliation  which  was  there  initiated  and  ex- 
emplified is  given  fair  play,  it  will  develop  in 
the  future  as  the  great  solvent  of  Ireland's 
difficulties,  smoothing  down  differences  existing 
between  warring  factions,  gradually  drawing 
Ireland  into  paths  of  peace,  and  turning  her 
into  the  home  of  a  hopeful  people,  capable 
of  utilizing  to  the  full  measures  of  wise  reform. 

The  Land  Conference  was  quite  peculiar.  The 
granting  of  Local  Government  to  Ireland  was  the 
first  fruit  of  Mr.  Balfour's  policy  of  administrative 
reform ;  the  founding  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture in  Ireland,  under  Sir  Horace  Plunkett, 
was  a  further  advance  in  the  same  direction. 
But  each  of  these  concessions  was  the  result  of  a 
particular  statesman's  or  public  man's  initiative. 
The  Land  Conference,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
due  to  spontaneous  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
public,  to  a  feeling  that  all  should  combine 
to  rectify  a  grievance  admitted  by  all,  and, 
as  such,  it  marks  an  epoch  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Ireland.  The  immediate  practical  result 
of  the  Conference  was  the  Land  Act  of  1903 — 
an  Act  by  no  means  perfect — but  a  great  Act 
under  which  the  freehold  of  the  soil  will  be 
transferred  to  those  who  occupy  and  till  it.  In 
order  to  make  a  clean,  clear,  peaceful,  and 
permanent  settlement,  the  Act  was  also  designed 
to  reinstate  evicted  tenants,  and  to  deal  with  the 

R 


242  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

appalling  destitution  and  uneconomic  condition 
existing  in  large  districts  in  the  West.  In  these 
last  respects,  the  Act  is  not  fulfilling  expecta- 
tions. It  is  working  far  too  slowly. 

But,  apart  from  its  effect  in  bringing  about 
the  Land  Act,  the  Land  Conference  had  other 
significant  consequences.  It  created  a  feeling 
that  Irishmen  were  capable  of  agreement  and  of 
united  action  on  many  points  if  only  they  would 
deal  fairly  and  considerately  with  each  other. 
A  public  opinion  has  been  steadily  forming 
which  holds  that,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
case  in  the  past,  Ireland's  chance  of  saving 
herself  now  is  to  be  found  in  conciliation  and 
reform ;  and  that  opinion  will  grow  and  prevail 
if  only  it  has  a  fair  chance.  Will  it  have  a  fair 
chance  ?  The  struggle  for  peace  will  be  a  hard 
one.  Moderation  is  not  melodramatic  ;  it  is  more 
difficult  to  appeal  to  the  common -sense  than  to 
the  passions  of  a  people.  Unfortunately,  the 
policy  of  conciliation  received  a  rude  shock  in  the 
complete  change  of  attitude  of  the  late  Govern- 
ment towards  Ireland  that  followed  upon  or 
led  to — I  know  not  which — the  resignation  of 
Mr.  Wyndham ;  and  a  somewhat  vehement  ex- 
pression of  anti-conciliation  opinion  manifested 
itself  on  both  sides  of  the  Channel.  There  are 
Irishmen  who,  without  a  shadow  of  foundation, 
seem  to  dread  the  consequences  of  an  Ireland 
at  peace,  and  to  fear  the  effect  that  might  be 


FINAL  WORDS.  243 

produced  upon  Irish  political  aspirations  if  she 
were  to  become  a  progressive  and  prosperous, 
instead  of  a  decaying  and  miserable,  people ; 
and  a  certain  section  of  the  Press  in  England 
appears  to  live  in  terror  of  a  peaceful  and  united 
Ireland  for  diametrically  opposite  reasons,  and  to 
prefer  an  Ireland  distracted  and  split  up. 

The  policy  pursued  under  Mr.  Wyndham's 
administration  was  a  wise  policy;  and  under  it 
Ireland  was  brightening  with  the  hope  of  better 
days,  and  was  tranquil.  The  disappointment  on 
the  reversal  of  that  wise  and  generous  policy 
was  great ;  but  in  spite  of  that — in  spite  of  the 
hysterics  of  the  tattered  remnants  of  the  old 
ascendancy  party  at  the  bare  idea  of  losing  the 
monopoly  of  place  and  power — in  spite  of 
frantic  journalistic  efforts  to  create  strife  in 
order  to  persuade  Great  Britain  that  physical 
force  is  the  only  method  to  be  employed  in 
Ireland — in  spite  of  the  "Union  in  danger" 
crusade  during  the  General  Election — in  spite  of 
all  this,  Ireland  continued  and  continues  to  be 
tranquil.  I  hope  and  trust  she  will  remain  so, 
for  upon  that  everything  depends.  The  patience 
of  the  people  is  sorely  tried.  It  has  proved 
equal  to  the  strain ;  with  all  my  heart  I  trust  it 
will  continue  to  do  so,  and  that  the  people  will 
never  fall  into  the  trap  so  openly  prepared  for 
them.  Physical  force  is  not  the  only  remedy 
for  Ireland's  ills.  Law  and  order  must  be 


244        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

maintained:  that  must  be  the  first  plank  of 
the  platform  of  any  administration,  as  it  was  in 
that  of  Mr.  Wyndham ;  but  it  should  not  be  the 
only  plank. 

Why  should  not  principles  be  applied  to 
Ireland  which  are  applicable  to  all  other  parts  of 
the  Empire?  Some  men  are  so  short-sighted 
that  they  cannot  discern  anything  beyond  the 
limited  horizon  of  their  parish,  their  county,  or 
city,  or,  at  most,  of  these  islands.  They  cannot 
see,  and,  therefore,  they  cannot  think,  imperially. 
Others  are  so  long-sighted  that  they  fail  to  per- 
ceive evils  that  are  close  at  hand.  A  statesman 
should  have  normal  sight.  Nothing  should 
be  too  large  and  distant,  nothing  too  small 
and  near,  to  escape  his  view.  What  does 
Mr.  Chamberlain  claim  for  the  Unionist  party  ? 
He  says  it  is  "a  powerful  instrument  for  pro- 
gressive and  beneficent  reform."  He  eulogises 
past  leaders  for  their  policy  of  "  wise  and  con- 
structive reform  "  ;  and  what  in  his  opinion  is 
necessary  to  keep  a  party  together?  "You 
cannot,"  he  says,  "  keep  any  party  together 
merely  on  a  policy  of  negation."  Truer  words 
were  never  spoken.  A  policy  of  pure  negation 
can  never  maintain  itself.  It  is  the  wise,  con- 
structive, positive  policy  that  prevails.  And 
why  is  progressive  and  beneficent  reform  to  be 
denied  to  Ireland  ?  On  what  grounds  are  we 
asked  to  admit  that  Ireland  forms  the  one 


FINAL  WORDS.  245 

exception  to  a  universal  rule,  and  that  in  her 
case  alone  a  policy  of  pure  negation  can  be 
successfully  applied? 

Mr.  Chamberlain  describes  himself  as  a 
Radical,  and  defines  Radicalism  as  the  creed  of 
"one  who,  seeing  a  grievance  anywhere,  will 
pluck  it  out  by  the  roots."  If  he  could  for  one 
moment  confine  his  gaze  to  so  small  an  object  as 
Ireland,  he  would  find  grievances  ready  to  his 
hand.  He  could  appeal  to  a  whole  procession 
of  Lords  Lieutenant  and  Chief  Secretaries  and 
Under  Secretaries.  Let  him  ask  them  if  the 
present  undemocratic,  purely  bureaucratic  system 
of  government  in  Ireland  works  satisfactorily, 
and  they  will  say  that  it  does  not.  Yet  the  idea 
of  "administrative  changes  and  reform  in  the 
system  of  government "  is  denounced  by  the 
greatest  democratic  statesman  of  a  democratic 
age  !  We  are  urged  to  foster  a  wise,  construc- 
tive policy — beneficent  reform  throughout  the 
Empire — with  one  exception.  Pure  negation,  no 
reform,  the  policeman's  baton,  is  the  prescrip- 
tion for  Ireland.  Surely  this  is  a  strange  policy 
for  one  whose  sole  object  in  life  is  the  strengthen- 
ing and  consolidation  of  the  Empire.  I  agree 
with  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  that  I  look  upon 
the  strengthening  of  the  ties  of  Empire  as  the 
noblest  task  to  which  any  man  can  apply  his 
intellect,  his  energy,  his  life.  But  consolidation, 
like  charity,  should  begin  at  home.  While 


246        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

labouring  for  consolidation  with  remote  portions 
of  a  United  Empire,  I  should  have  thought  it  not 
unwise  to  labour  also  for  conciliation  with  a  very 
near  partner  of  the  United  Kingdom.  While 
strengthening  the  members,  it  might  be  well  to 
see  that  the  heart — these  islands — is  healthy  and 
sound.  Constructive  reform  was  the  policy  of 
the  Unionist  party,  and  must  become  their  policy 
again.  Fortunately  it  is  adopted  with  a  whole 
heart  by  the  political  party  now  in  power. 

Of  course,  it  may  be  argued,  and  is  argued, 
that,  as  Ireland  enjoys  the  same  amount  of  self- 
government  in  county  and  municipal  affairs  as 
Great  Britain,  and  as  she  is  fully  and,  according 
to  population  more  than  fully,  represented  in 
the  Imperial  Parliament,  she  can  have  nothing 
to  complain  of.  There  is  truth  in  the  premises, 
but  the  conclusion  is  false.  The  old  fatal 
fallacy  is  involved — the  idea  that  that  which 
works  well  and  is  satisfactory  in  England  must 
work  equally  well  and  be  equally  satisfactory 
in  Ireland.  The  differentiation  between  the  two 
peoples  is  far  too  great  for  this  argument  to 
hold  good;  and  it  is  to  the  fact  that  we  fail 
to  understand  these  differences  and  to  make 
allowances  for  them,  that  England's  failure  in 
Ireland  is  due.  Representation  in  the  Imperial 
Parliament  does  not  convey  to  Ireland  the  same 
intimate  control  of  her  own  affairs  as  the  repre- 
sentation of  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales  in 


FINAL  WORDS.  247 

Parliament  gives  to  the  people  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  Wales.  Differentiation  has  been 
recognized  to  a  certain  extent,  and  Ireland 
has  a  form  of  government  peculiar  to  herself; 
but  it  is  a  form  of  government  unsuited  to  the 
country,  out  of  date,  and  faulty  in  itself. 

This  subject  has  been  dealt  with  before. 
Suffice  it  now  to  say  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
while  representation  in  Parliament  does,  to  a 
very  large  extent  at  any  rate,  meet  local  require- 
ments in  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  it  does 
not  in  any  degree  meet  local  requirements  in 
Ireland.  Between  Parliament  and  the  Irish 
people  exists  the  most  incongruous  form  of 
government  that  has  ever  been  devised  by 
man.  A  pernicious  system  of  bureaucracy  is 
interposed.  A  condition  of  things  exists  which 
is  intolerable;  and  the  only  living  question  is 
whether  the  painter  should  be  cut  altogether 
and  Ireland  should  be  cast  adrift  to  sink  or 
swim,  or  whether  some  means  can  be  devised 
whereby  the  democratic  principle  can  be  intro- 
duced into  Irish  government,  and  the  people 
can  be  given  sufficient  and  efficient  control 
over  their  own  affairs ;  in  fact,  whether  the 
principle  of  devolution  is  not  applicable  to 
Ireland. 

I  am  not  arguing  against  the  Union.  On  the 
contrary,  I  look  upon  legislative  union  as  the 
outward  and  necessary  sign  of  the  close  union 


248  THE.  OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

which,  from  natural  causes,  must  exist  between 
the  two  islands.  Great  Britain  is  Ireland's  chief 
market,  and  must  ever  be  so.  Ireland  is  too 
small  and  too  poor  to  stand  alone.  She  requires 
the  backing  of  a  great  power  like  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  of  a  great  empire.  If  she  were 
able  to  stand  alone,  the  position  would  be  intoler- 
able. These  narrow  seas  could  not  contain  two 
independent  States ;  and  Great  Britain  is  per- 
fectly justified  in  safeguarding  herself.  The 
Union  is  necessary ;  but  I  believe  that  Ireland 
could  have  prospered  under  the  Union,  and 
could  still  be  made  to  prosper  under  the  Union, 
if  the  principles  underlying  the  Union  were 
properly  carried  out,  and  if  the  principle  of 
devolution,  which  has  succeeded  so  admirably 
throughout  the  whole  Empire,  were  reasonably 
applied.  The  animating  spirit  of  the  Act 
of  Union  has  never  been  acted  upon  except 
tentatively  by  Mr.  Balfour  and  Mr.  Wyndham. 
It  was  acknowledged  at  the  time  of  the  Union 
that  the  circumstances  of  Ireland  were  excep- 
tional ;  and  it  was  stipulated  and  agreed  that 
exceptional  treatment  should  be  accorded  to 
Ireland  under  exceptional  circumstances.  If 
anything,  the  position  has  tended  to  become 
more  and  more  exceptional  since  the  Act  of 
Union  was  passed.  Free  Trade,  whatever  its 
general  benefits  may  have  been  for  the  whole  of 
Great  Britain,  has  acted  very  prejudicially  upon 


FINAL  WORDS.  249 

a  portion  of  the  United  Kingdom  devoted 
entirely  to  agriculture.  The  population  of 
Ireland  has  decreased  enormously;  and  the 
burden  of  taxation  has  enormously  increased. 
The  country  is  very  poor,  and  urgently  requires, 
in  many  directions,  judicious  outlay  of  capital 
for  remunerative  purposes  upon  the  natural 
resources  of  the  country.  But  the  root-cause  of 
trouble  and  discontent  in  Ireland  consists  in  the 
futile  attempts  that  have  been  made  to  anglicize 
her — to  convert  Ireland  into  so  many  shires  of 
Great  Britain.  Ireland  cannot  be  anglicized. 
She  always  has,  and  does,  differentiate  from 
Great  Britain  to  a  far  larger  extent  than  is  the 
case  between  the  other  component  parts  of  the 
United  Kingdom ;  and  unless  this  fact  is  recog- 
nized, and  Ireland  is  allowed  to  develop  herself 
according  to  her  own  ideas  and  on  her  own  lines, 
she  cannot  become  prosperous  and  contented. 
The  system  of  government  in  Ireland  does  not 
permit  this.  It  lacks  public  confidence,  and  it 
must  be  changed. 

Concerning  the  policy,  commonly  called 
"Home  Rule  all  round,"  which  is  advocated 
by  a  good  many  people,  I  have  nothing  now 
to  say,  except  that  there  is  a  great  difference, 
in  degree  at  any  rate,  between  the  case  for 
devolution  in  general  and  the  case  for  devolu- 
tion for  Ireland  in  particular.  English,  Scotch, 
and  Welsh  affairs  are  fairly  well  attended  to 


250        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

in  Parliament ;  Irish  affairs  receive  but  scant 
attention.  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales  are 
prosperous ;  Ireland  is  perishing.  Her  case  is 
very  urgent,  and  some  remedy  must  be  speedily 
applied.  The  people  are  anxious  to  work  out 
their  own  salvation.  Ought  they  not  to  be  given 
a  chance  ?  In  considering  whether  devolution 
cannot  be  safely  and  with  advantage  applied  to 
Ireland,  we  must  not  forget  the  change  that  is 
taking  place.  The  leaven  of  land-purchase  is 
working  in  Ireland.  The  policy  of  conciliation, 
of  Irishmen  co-operating  for  the  common  good 
of  their  country,  is  alive  and  will  prevail.  No 
doubt,  causes  of  friction  still  exist;  sectarian 
animosity  and  class  animosity  are  not  dead,  but 
they  are  dying.  Patience  is  required.  Let  us 
be  fair.  It  is  not  easy  for  the  great  majority,  for 
centuries  held  in  complete  subjection,  to  be 
absolutely  moderate,  absolutely  just.  It  is  not 
easy  for  a  minority,  once  all  dominant,  to  cast 
utterly  aside  all  lingering  regret  for  a  past 
ascendancy  of  class  and  creed.  But  the  bitter- 
ness arising  from  differences  of  religion  and  of 
class  is  rapidly  diminishing  in  intensity  under  the 
sense  of  toleration,  consequent  upon  a  strong  and 
growing  sense  of  common  nationality.  Let  us 
feed  the  sense  of  nationality,  and  give  it  some- 
thing to  do.  The  more  the  people  become 
interested  in  the  management  of  their  own 
business,  the  more  control  they  have  over  affairs, 


FINAL  WORDS.  25! 

the  more  self-control  will  they  acquire,  and  the 
sooner  will  the  last  flickering  flames  of  class  and 
sectarian  animosity  die  out.  A  broad  and  com- 
prehensive view  of  the  situation  must  be  taken. 

We  must  not  be  in  a  hurry.  Neither  Land 
Acts,  nor  Education  Acts,  nor  any  other  Acts  can 
work  a  miracle.  The  sad  results  of  centuries  of 
misrule  cannot  be  obliterated  in  a  day.  It  may 
well  be  that  exacerbated  instances  of  bitterness 
will  occasionally  manifest  themselves.  The 
growth  of  moderate  sentiment  is  apt  to  excite 
irreconcilables  of  all  kinds  to  more  vehement 
expression.  Such  instances,  if  they  occur,  must 
not  be  exaggerated.  The  sense  of  the  ideal  of 
nationality,  of  the  necessity  for  co-operation,  of 
the  wisdom  of  moderation  and  conciliation,  is 
steadily  increasing  in  strength  and  volume,  and 
may  be  depended  upon. 

The  main  cause  of  discontent  in  Ireland — 
land-tenure — is  being  removed,  and  a  body  of 
public  opinion,  which,  if  the  education  question 
were  fairly  dealt  with,  would  receive  an  immense 
accession  of  strength,  is  growing  in  volume  every 
day  in  favour  of  conciliation — inclined  to  look  to 
Parliament  for  justice,  and  to  seek  to  work  for 
political  ideals  by  constitutional  means.  The 
time  is  favourable,  the  opportunity  is  ripe,  for 
reform. 

That  reform  in  Ireland  is  desirable  will  not,  I 
think,  be  denied  by  candid  Unionists;  and  I 


252  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

take  it  that  their  main  objection  to  extension  of 
local  self-government  is  based  on  the  assumption 
that  any  extension  must  lead  up  to  repeal. 

Such  an  assumption  is  quite  untenable,  and 
may  perhaps  be  sufficiently  disproved  by  the 
fact  that  two  distinct  schools  of  thought  object 
to  the  extension  of  self-governing  power  involved 
in  devolution,  and  to  the  general  policy  of  con- 
ciliation between  the  two  countries,  on  diametri- 
cally opposite  grounds.  Extreme  Nationalists 
object  because  they  fear  as  an  inevitable  result 
the  indefinite  postponement  of  their  ideal — inde- 
pendence. Extreme  Unionists  object  because 
they  fear  as  an  inevitable  result  the  rapid  reali- 
zation of  their  bugbear — independence.  They 
cannot  both  be  right ;  and  it  is  not  unreasonable 
to  suppose  that,  in  extending  the  principle 
of  local  self-government,  a  point  of  natural 
equilibrium  will  be  reached  somewhere  between 
the  two  extremes.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  the 
practical  answer  to  the  question  whether  devolu- 
tion must  necessarily  lead  up  to  repeal  is 
supplied  in  the  negative  by  the  statesman  from 
whose  utterances  I  have  already  so  copiously 
quoted. 

In  the  fiscal  controversy  an  objection  of  pre- 
cisely similar  character  has  been  raised  by  free- 
fooders  against  Mr.  Chamberlain's  proposition  of 
preferential  treatment.  It  is  admitted  that  a  2s. 
duty  on  foreign  wheat  would  have  no  appreciable 


FINAL  WORDS.  253 

effect  upon  the  price  of  the  quartern  loaf.  The 
danger  lies,  it  is  contended,  in  the  insertion  of 
the  thin  end  of  the  wedge.  If  a  duty,  however 
small,  is  placed  upon  wheat  imported  from  certain 
countries  in  particular,  it  is  argued  that  a  prin- 
ciple is  introduced  which  will  lead  to  the 
imposition  of  duties,  however  big,  upon  all  sea- 
borne wheat.  The  syllogism  may  be  theoreti- 
cally sound ;  but  what  is  Mr.  Chamberlain's 
reply?  That  the  self-interest  and  common-sense 
of  the  people  may  be  safely  relied  upon  to  pre- 
vent the  principle  being  carried  to  dangerous  or 
improper  lengths.  That  devolution  would  be 
beneficial  both  to  the  Imperial  Parliament  and 
to  Ireland  will  scarcely  be  denied ;  but  in  this 
case  again  the  danger  lies,  as  we  are  told,  in 
the  insertion  of  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge. 
How,  we  are  asked,  is  the  principle — once  it 
has  been  introduced  —  to  be  prevented  from 
extending  to  repeal  or  complete  independence  ? 
In  this  case  the  logic  is  not  sound,  and  does 
not  bear  out  the  deduction  that  nothing  should 
be  done,  for  the  principle  of  local  self-govern- 
ment— the  thin  end  of  the  wedge — has  been 
introduced  long  ago.  But,  ignoring  that  fact, 
is  not  the  same  answer  applicable  ?  Why  cannot 
the  people  be  relied  upon  to  confine  the  principle 
of  devolution  within  the  limits  of  safety?  The 
thin  end  of  the  wedge  argument  is  of  all  argu- 
ments the  most  absurd ;  according  to  it  all 


254  THE    OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

progress,  moral,  material  and  physical,  would 
be  precluded;  if  a  man  walks  towards  Dover, 
does  it  follow  that  he  must  precipitate  himself 
into  the  sea?  If  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge 
argument  were  to  be  suffered  to  prevail,  reform 
in  any  direction  would  be  impossible.  Parlia- 
ment, in  its  long  history,  has  never  passed  a 
single  constructive  measure  to  which  this  argu- 
ment was  not  applicable.  If  men  are  to  refuse 
to  do  that  of  which  they  approve  because  it 
may  be  argued  that,  according  to  strict  logic, 
the  principle  involved  might  lead  up  to  that  of 
which  they  disapprove,  they  would  never  do 
anything.  Absolute  stagnation  would  prevail. 

Devolution  of  power  from  the  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment is  the  great  principle  which  has  made  and 
consolidated  the  British  Empire.  I  can  see  no 
reason  why  it  should  not  be  applied  to  Ireland. 
That  no  exact  parallel  can  be  drawn,  I,  of  course, 
admit.  Autonomy  in  the  great  self-governing 
colonies  is  not  accompanied  with  representation 
at  Westminster.  The  relations  between  the  Pro- 
vincial and  Dominion  Parliaments  in  Canada 
and  Australia,  and  between  Provincial  Govern- 
ments and  the  Central  Government  in  India,  are 
more  analogous  to  the  case  in  point ;  but  they  do 
not  constitute  an  exact  parallel.  The  case  of 
Ireland  is  peculiar.  But  we  boast,  and  with 
reason,  of  the  elasticity  of  our  Constitution,  and 
of  our  adaptability  to  circumstances.  To  tell 


FINAL  WORDS.  255 

me  that  there  is  no  middle  course,  no  alternative, 
to  be  found  between  severing  the  connection 
between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  adminis- 
tering Irish  affairs  by  means  of  a  vast  number 
of  irresponsible  Boards,  irresponsive  to  the  wishes 
of  the  people  and  ignorant  of  the  needs  of  the 
country,  is  to  my  mind  equivalent  to  asking  me 
to  admit  the  incapacity  of  Parliament,  the  failure 
of  democratic  principles  and  of  a  representative 
system  of  government. 

I  hold  strongly  to  devolution,  because  I  believe 
that  it  will  enable  Ireland  to  work  out  her  own 
salvation,  and  because  I  am  convinced  that  by 
no  other  means  can  she  do  so.  I  think  it  should 
come  gradually ;  too  great  a  strain  ought  not  to 
be  thrown  upon  a  people  with  only  a  few  years' 
experience  in  the  management  of  affairs  derived 
from  popularly  elected  County  Councils ;  but  I 
look  for  devolution  of  the  greatest  amount  of 
self-governing  power  that  is  compatible  with  the 
maintenance  of  the  Union,  and  the  supremacy  of 
Parliament.  I  hold  to  the  Union  because  I 
believe  it  to  be  essential  to  the  welfare  and 
prosperity  of  both  islands.  They  are  too  closely 
connected  by  natural  causes  to  be  politically 
disunited — such  a  divorce  would  be  unnatural. 
But  even  were  my  ideal  that  of  an  independent 
Ireland,  I  would  take  a  practical  view  of  the 
present  situation.  Ireland  is  very  sick :  her 
decay  is  terrible  and  rapid.  An  independent 


256        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

Ireland  is  a  dream,  to  my  mind,  impossible  of 
attainment ;  at  any  rate,  it  is  not  within  the 
range  of  practical  politics  now ,  and  in  the  mean- 
time Ireland  is  perishing,  and  something  must 
be  done- 

I  fully  admit  that,  in  the  alternative  I  offer, 
there  are  difficulties  to  be  overcome.  It  is  a 
principle  of  our  unwritten  Constitution  that  a 
minority  must  not  persecute  or  oppress  a  majority. 
That  was  the  position  as  long  as  the  ascendancy 
party  held  sway.  It  is  also  a  recognized  principle 
that  minorities  have  their  rights,  and  may  not  be 
persecuted  or  oppressed  by  a  majority.  That  the 
Protestant  minority  would  be  exposed  to  any 
dangerof  ill-treatment  underany  extension  of  local 
self-government,  I  do  not  myself  believe.  The 
vast  majority  of  Roman  Catholics  are  tolerant ; 
the  sense  of  nationality  and  of  the  advantages 
of  co-operation  is  strong,  and  gathering  strength ; 
the  natural  divergence  and  conflict  of  opinions  in 
any  national  assembly  would  render  combination 
against  any  section  of  the  community  difficult, 
if  not  impossible.  Nevertheless,  the  fears  enter- 
tained on  this  point  are,  even  if  unfounded, 
perfectly  genuine,  and  must  be  allayed.  In  any 
scheme  of  devolution  efficient  guarantees  for  the 
protection  of  the  minority  are  desirable  in  the 
direction  indicated  years  ago  by  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire,  when  he  said  that  "  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  ought  to  remain  in  the  hands  of 


FINAL  WORDS.  257 

an  authority  which  is  responsible  to  Parliament," 
and  by  the  introduction  of  a  nominated  element. 
The  electoral  basis  must  be  broad  and  demo- 
cratic. It  may,  of  course,  be  possible  to  secure 
the  representation  of  minorities  by  some  method 
of  proportional  representation ;  but,  even  so,  the 
presence  of  a  nominated  element  is  expedient. 
Ireland  has  enjoyed  local  self-government  in  the 
form  of  District  and  County  Councils  for  only  a 
few  years.  She  is  more  accustomed  to  objecting 
to  her  affairs  being  mismanaged  for  her  than 
to  managing  her  own  affairs.  With  the  best  will 
in  the  world  on  the  part  of  members  of  an  elected 
body  to  do  their  duty  by  their  country,  the  advice 
and  assistance  of  men  familiar  with  procedure, 
of  administrative  experience,  especially  as  re- 
gards finance,  and  educated  in  the  conduct  of 
affairs,  would  be  of  advantage  to  them. 

Another  argument  urged  against  the  political 
proposals  of  the  Irish  Reform  Association  is  that, 
even  if  they  are  not  pernicious,  they  must  at  any 
rate  be  useless,  as  they  fall  far  short  of  the 
aspirations  and  demands  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Irish  people,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  taken  as  a 
discharge  in  full.  That  is  so,  and  the  most  that 
can  be  hoped  for  is  that  they  will  be  taken  on 
account,  and  honestly  made  the  most  of. 

I  can  see  no  reason  why,  without  abandoning 
any  of  the  ideals  entertained  by  Nationalists  in 
Ireland,  or  by  sections  of  Liberals  or  Radicals, 

s 


258        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

or  anybody  else  in  Great  Britain,  a  step  should 
not  be  taken  towards  giving  the  Irish  people 
greater  control  of  their  own  affairs.  I  do  not 
ask  men  to  abandon  whatever  political  ideals 
they  may  cherish ;  I  do  not  propose  to  set 
bounds  to  the  march  of  a  people :  but  I  submit 
that  before  a  people  can  march  they  must  walk, 
and  before  they  can  walk  they  must  learn  to  stand 
upon  their  feet;  and  I  do  ask  all  Irishmen  to 
recognize  Ireland's  necessities,  and  to  consider 
whether  it  is  not  possible,  whether  it  is  not 
advisable,  whether  it  is  not  necessary,  to  institute 
reforms  which,  though  they  may  not  fully  satisfy 
their  ideals,  may,  at  any  rate,  give  to  Ireland 
that  hopefulness,  confidence,  and  self-reliance 
which  are  essential  if  she  is  to  work  out  her  own 
salvation. 

As  to  the  future,  who  can  tell  what  the  result 
of  an  honest  attempt  to  set  Ireland  on  her  feet 
may  be  ?  With  the  great  and  pressing  questions 
connected  with  land,  education,  and  transit 
settled,  or  in  course  of  settlement ;  with  the 
sense  of  responsibility  for  the  management  of 
their  own  affairs  full  upon  them,  and  relieved  of 
the  constant  irritation  caused  by  a  singularly 
defective  system  of  government,  it  may  be  that 
the  great  majority  of  the  Irish  people  will 
gradually  come  to  take  a  calm  and  practical 
view  of  the  situation  and  of  the  prospects  of 
their  country.  They  may  recognize  that  her 


FINAL  WORDS.  259 

future  lies  in  their  own  hands,  and  depends  upon 
their  own  energy,  common-sense,  and  prudence. 
The  conclusion  may  be  forced  upon  them  that  to 
deprive  themselves  of  representation  at  West- 
minster would  be  madness,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that,  owing  to  natural  and  unalterable  causes, 
Ireland  is  and  must  ever  be  intimately  connected 
with  Great  Britain.  If  so,  the  tendency  will 
be  towards  contentment  with  such  control,  of 
Ireland's  affairs  as  is  compatible  with  repre- 
sentation at  Westminster  and  the  ultimate 
supremacy  of  the  Imperial  Parliament.  Such 
control  will,  I  believe,  satisfy  the  practical 
requirements  of  the  case.  Sentiment  is  very 
strong — the  root  and  origin  of  all  action. 

Against  a  sentimental  desire  for  absolute 
independence  in  the  form  of  a  republic,  or  of 
dualism  in  the  shape  of  a  sovereign  independent 
Parliament,  and  an  executive  responsible  to  it, 
must  be  set  the  practical  value  of  British  credit, 
of  British  power  by  sea  and  land,  of  the  Civil 
Service,  of  the  protection  of  the  flag  in  every 
quarter  of  the  globe,  and  of  representation  in  the 
Imperial  Parliament.  Without  that  representa- 
tion, Ireland  would  be  again,  as  she  once  was, 
entirely  at  the  mercy  of  Parliament.  The  people 
of  Great  Britain,  acting  through  Parliament, 
ruined  Ireland,  lock,  stock,  and  barrel,  in  the 
past,  and  could  do  so  in  the  future  if  Ireland 
ceased  to  be  represented  at  Westminster. 


26O        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

Ireland  would  not  be  safe  for  a  day  except  under 
one  of  two  conditions — either  she  must  be  rich 
and  powerful  enough  to  stand  alone  absolutely 
unsupported,  or  she  must  have  her  say  and  her 
vote  in  the  Parliament  at  Westminster.  That 
the  latter  is  the  only  possible  alternative  will,  I 
think,  in  time,  at  any  rate,  commend  itself  to  the 
Irish  people.  But  if  not,  if  devolution — reform 
of  the  system  of  government  within  the  Union — 
does  not  satisfy  Ireland,  what  then  ?  Shall  we 
be  the  better  or  the  worse  for  trying  the 
experiment  ?  Assuredly  the  gain  will  be  great. 

Short  of  the  interference  of  some  national 
catastrophe,  the  social,  economic,  and  political 
condition  of  Ireland  must  be  greatly  improved 
through  the  operation  of  the  social,  economic, 
and  political  reforms  which  have  been  outlined. 
The  farmers  will  be  tilling  the  soil  under  the 
inspiration  and  stimulus  of  absolute  ownership. 
Class  animosities  arising  from  the  long  land 
struggle  will  gradually  be  forgotten.  With 
the  question  of  education  satisfactorily  settled, 
sectarian  bitterness  will  flicker  out.  Under  a 
wise  development  of  the  natural  resources  of 
the  country,  agriculture  and  such  other  in- 
dustries as  the  country  is  capable  of  support- 
ing will  receive  healthy  encouragement.  By 
devolution,  the  people  will  become  trained  in 
the  management  of  affairs,  and  will  be  enabled 
to  form  a  sounder  judgment  than  they  at 


FINAL  WORDS.  26l 

present  do  upon  political  problems  and  questions 
of  an  Imperial  character.  The  Irish  people 
will  have  learned  to  put  trust  in  Parliament ; 
and  the  people  of  Great  Britain  will  recognize 
that  the  Irish  are  not  the  inferior,  incapable, 
and  unpractical  race  that  in  the  past  they 
have  considered  them  to  be.  Prejudice  on  both 
sides  will  die  out.  Both  peoples  will  come  to 
respect  each  other,  and  a  broad  Imperial  spirit 
will  manifest  itself.  The  desire  in  Ireland  will 
be  to  let  by-gones  be  by-gones,  and,  in  the 
prospect  of  a  brighter  future,  to  forget  the 
miserable  past. 

If  Ireland  makes  further  demands,  it  will  be 
in  a  very  different  spirit.  If  she  pleads  for  a 
still  further  extension  of  self-governing  power,  it 
will  be  based  on  the  ground  of  the  successful 
use  made  of  the  self-governing  power  granted  to 
her.  She  could  never  again  say  that  violence 
was  the  only  road  to  concession,  or  that  in  inde- 
pendence lay  the  only  escape  from  an  intolerable 
yoke.  But  it  is  idle  to  speculate  as  to  the  future. 
Who  can  attempt  to  say  what  changes  may  take 
place  within  the  Empire,  necessitating  a  recast- 
ing of  the  relationships  existing  between  •  its 
components  ?  The  most  we  can  do  is  to  do  that 
which  is  right,  because  it  is  right,  not  as  a 
bargain  for  value  received,  but  for  the  right's 
sake,  and  await  results.  Let  us,  as  practical, 
common-sense  people,  act  in  the  present,  deal 


262        THE  OUTLOOK  IN  IRELAND. 

with  the  problems  at  hand,  and  be   content  to 
let  the  future  take  care  of  itself. 
To  sum  up,  my  ambition  is  to  see — 

(1)  Cordial,  honest  co-operation  among  Irish- 
men for   their   country's   good.     A   true   living 
sense  of  Irish  nationality  is  necessary.     Ireland 
united  can  accomplish  anything  in  reason. 

(2)  The  exercise  of  moderation  and  common- 
sense  on  the  part  of  Irishmen. 

(3)  The  creation  of  friendly,  fraternal  relations 
between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  on  both  sides 
— let  the  dead  bury  their  dead. 

(4)  Recognition  by  Ireland  of  (a)  her  Imperial 
mission,    her    share    in   the    larger    nationality 
covered  by  the  flag,  and  her  consequent  duties 
and    responsibilities;    and    (b)   of  the    political 
necessities  of  Great  Britain. 

(5)  Recognition  by  Great  Britain  of  (a)  Irish 
nationality ;  and  (b)  of  the  economic  and  social 
requirements  of  Ireland,  and  of  her  just  claim 
for  exceptional  treatment. 

Ireland  has  both  a  moral  and  a  statutory  claim 
to  State  assistance.  Ireland  must  be  looked 
upon  as  a  poor,  undeveloped,  neglected  portion 
of  the  estate.  Development  of  her  natural 
resources  should  be  on  the  following  lines: — 
(a)  cheap  and  rapid  transit  for  produce  to  British 
markets ;  (b)  main-drainage  and  reclamation  ; 


FINAL  WORDS.  263 

(c)  harbours  and  piers ;  (d)  afforestation  and  the 
preservation  of  timber.  In  estimating  profit  or 
loss  upon  capital  thus  invested,  the  effect  upon 
the  whole  estate — upon  the  United  Kingdom 
and  the  Empire — must  be  considered. 

The  Land  Question  is  in  course  of  settlement. 
There   remains    education.     Ireland   must   be 
provided  with  a  system  of  education  satisfying 
the  needs   of  the   people   from  top  to  bottom. 
With  these  two  problems — namely,  the  land  and 
education — solved,  the  State  will  have  done  all 
that  is  possible  in  the  social  field.     By  a  recog- 
nition  of  the   fact   that  employment   of  public 
money,  as  occasion  permits,  is  desirable  for  the 
development   of  the   country  in    the   directions 
above   mentioned,  but  especially   in    respect   to 
railway  transit,  the  State  will  have  done  all  that 
is  economically  possible.     The  rest  will  be  with 
Ireland.     Her  fate   will   be   in   her  own  hands. 
But  if  responsibility  lies  with  her,  she  must  be 
allowed   to    exercise    responsible    powers.     She 
must  develop  on  her  own  lines,  and  in  her  own 
way.     She    must  exercise   responsibility   in    the 
application  of  money    allotted    to   her.     Money 
must  no  longer  be  spent  by  Boards  over  which 
the  people  can  exercise  no  real  control.     Social 
and  economic  reforms  will  fail  or  will  only  very 
partially  succeed  unless  accompanied  by  drastic 
reform  in  the  system  of  Irish  government. 

Political    reform    should,   indeed,  precede    all 


264  THE   OUTLOOK    IN    IRELAND. 

other  reform,  for  it  is  the  most  important  of 
all  in  the  sense  that,  without  it,  the  seed  sown 
in  social  and  economic  fields  cannot  fructify  and 
bear  good  fruit.  What,  then,  is  it  that  I  propose 
in  the  direction  of  political  reform  ?  What  is  the 
circumference  of  my  desires  ? 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland  are  necessary  the 
one  to  the  other.  Great  Britain  cannot  afford 
to  divest  herself  of  all  control  over  the  destinies 
of  Ireland.  Ireland  cannot  afford  to  lose  the 
control  she  possesses  over  the  destinies  of 
Great  Britain.  Materially,  Ireland  is  neces- 
sary to  Great  Britain  as  a  producing  country; 
and  British  markets  and  Imperial  credit,  and 
the  force  and  backing  of  a  great  Empire, 
are  necessary  to  Ireland.  From  a  higher 
point  of  view,  the  Irish  character,  nature,  and 
genius  are  essential  to  the  English  character, 
nature,  and  genius.  The  mixture — might  I 
say  the  leaven  ? — has  made  the  Empire  what 
it  is.  The  two  islands  are  bound  together, 
whether  they  like  it  or  whether  they  do  not,  by 
ties  which  cannot  be  dissolved.  So  close  a 
natural  union  must  find  expression  in  political 
union  equally  close.  Representation  in  one 
Parliament  and  the  supremacy  of  that  Parliament 
is  the  only  system  satisfactory  to  the  nature  of 
the  case.  But  though  thus  closely  connected 
together  by  nature,  the  peoples  of  the  two 
islands  differentiate  to  a  vast  extent.  In  many 


FINAL  WORDS.  265 

respects,  they  think,  feel,  and  act  differently 
under  similar  circumstances.  Their  problems 
are  not  the  same  problems,  or  they  present 
different  aspects  and  suggest  different  means  of 
solution.  Ireland  cannot  be  anglicized.  She 
cannot  be  happily  governed,  nor  can  her 
prosperity  be  assured  by  purely  English  methods 
and  on  purely  English  lines.  She  understands 
her  own  affairs  best,  and  she  should  manage  her 
own  affairs.  The  problem  is  to  reconcile  local 
and  Imperial  interests.  The  solution  may  be 
sought  on  the  lines  of  either  federation  or  devo- 
lution ;  it  is  in  devolution  that,  in  my  opinion, 
it  will  be  found.  Be  that  as  it  may,  my  political 
creed  is  clear  and  simple.  One  Parliament  is 
my  centre ;  its  ultimate  effective  supremacy  is  my 
circumference  :  but,  emanating  from  that  centre, 
and  within  that  circumscribing  limit,  I  desire  to 
see  the  largest  possible  freedom  of  action  and 
self-governing  power  delegated  to  Ireland. 


APPENDICES. 


CONTENTS. 


APPENDICES. 

PAGE. 

I.  THE  IRISH  REFORM  ASSOCIATION'S  PROGRAMME  .    271 
II.  INDIRECT    AND    DIRECT    TAXATION,     AND    ITS 

INCIDENCE      .  .  .  .  .  .281 

III.  IRELAND'S  Loss  OF  POPULATION      .  .  .    283 

IV.  BRITISH  AND  IRISH  PROGRESS         .  .  .    285 
V.  BRITISH  AND  IRISH  REVENUES         .           .  .286 

VI.  WYNDHAM-MACDONNELL  CORRESPONDENCE  .      288 

VII.  THE  HOME  RULE  BILLS:  SUMMARIES         .  .    291 


IRISH  REFORM  ASSOCIATION  S    PROGRAMME.      2JI 


APPENDICES. 


THE   IRISH   REFORM   ASSOCIATION'S 
PROGRAMME. 

FOR  all  practical  purposes  the  policy  of  the  Irish  Reform 
Association  may  be  said  to  have  originated  in  a  memorandum 
privately  circulated  on  March  3,  1903,  and  signed  by  the 
following  five  members  of  the  Land  Conference  Committee  : — 
Colonel  W.  Hutcheson  Poe,  C.B.  ;  Mr.  Lindsay  Talbot  Crosbie, 
Mr.  R.  H.  Prior  Wandesforde,  D.L.  ;  Mr.  A.  More  O'Farrall, 
D.L.  ;  and  Mr.  M.  V.  Blacker-Douglas.  In  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  Land  Conference  Committee  had  been  appointed 
for  a  definite  purpose,  and  that  purpose  had  not  then  been 
attained,  no  action  on  the  lines  suggested  was  at  the  moment 
taken.  When,  however,  the  Land  Conference  Committee 
had  finished  its  task,  the  question  was  discussed  as  to  the 
practicability  of  applying  to  other  Irish  problems  the  same 
policy  of  compromise  and  conciliation  as  had  led  to  such 
gratifying  results  in  the  case  of  the  Land  Question. 

On  the  25th  of  August,  1903,  a  meeting  was  held  at  which 
two  resolutions  were  passed,  one  dissolving  the  Land  Con- 
ference Committee,  and  the  other  forming  the  Irish  Reform 
Association.  On  the  following  day,  the  Committee  considered 
and  adopted  a  tentative  programme  which  was  published  on 
August  3 1 st.  This  programme  is  as  follows  : — 

Believing  as  we  do  that  the  prosperity  of  the  people  of 
Ireland,  the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  country,  and 
the  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  land  and  other  questions 
depend  upon  the  pursuance  of  a  policy  of  conciliation  and 
good-will,  and  of  reform,  we  desire  to  do  everything  in  our 
power  to  promote  an  union  of  all  moderate  and  progressive 


272  APPENDIX    I. 

opinion,  irrespective  of  creed  or  class  ;  to  discourage  sectarian 
strife  and  class  animosities,  from  whatever  source  arising ;  to 
co-operate  in  re-creating  and  promoting  industrial  enterprises ; 
and  to  advocate  all  practical  measures  of  reform. 

While  firmly  maintaining  that  the  Parliamentary  Union 
between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  is  essential  to  the  political 
stability  of  the  Empire,  and  to  the  prosperity  of  the  two 
islands,  we  believe  that  such  Union  is  compatible  with  the 
devolution  to  Ireland  of  a  larger  measure  of  local  government 
than  she  now  possesses. 

We  consider  that  this  devolution,  while  avoiding  matters  of 
Imperial  concern  and  subjects  of  common  interest  to  the 
Kingdom  as  a  whole,  would  be  beneficial  to  Ireland,  and 
would  relieve  the  Imperial  Parliament  of  a  mass  of  business 
with  which  it  cannot  now  deal  satisfactorily,  and  which 
occupies  its  time  to  the  detriment  of  much  more  important 
concerns.  In  particular,  we  consider  the  present  system  of 
financial  administration  to  be  wasteful  and  inappreciative  of 
the  needs  of  the  country. 

We  think  it  possible  to  devise  a  system  of  Irish  finance 
whereby  expenditure  could  be  conducted  in  a  more  efficient 
and  economic  manner,  and  whereby  the  sources  of  revenue 
might  be  expanded.  We  believe  that  a  remedy  for  the  present 
unsatisfactory  system  can  be  found  in  such  a  decentralization 
or  localization  of  Irish  finance  as  will  secure  to  its  administra- 
tion the  application  of  local  knowledge,  interest,  and  ability 
without  in  any  way  sacrificing  the  ultimate  control  over  the 
estimates  presented,  or  in  respect  of  the  audit  of  money 
expended,  at  present  possessed  by  the  Imperial  Parliament. 
All  moneys  derived  from  administrative  reform,  together  with 
whatever  proportion  of  the  general  revenue  is  allocated  to  Irish 
purposes,  should  be  administered  subject  to  the  above  con- 
ditions. 

We  think  that  the  time  has  come  to  extend  to  Ireland  the 
system  of  Private  Bill  Legislation,  which  has  been  so  success- 
fully worked  in  Scotland,  with  such  modifications  as  Scotch 
experience  may  suggest,  as  may  be  necessary  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  this  country. 

We  are  of  opinion  that  a  settlement  of  the  question  of 
higher  education  is  urgently  needed,  and  that  the  whole 
system  of  education  in  this  country'  requires  remodelling  and 
co-ordinating. 

We  desire  to  do  all  in  our  power  to  further  the  policy  of 
land-purchase  in  the  spirit  of,  and  on  the  general  lines  laid 
down  in,  the  Land  Conference  Report. 


273 

We  consider  that  suitable  provision  for  the  housing  of  the 
labouring  classes  is  of  the  utmost  importance ;  and  we  shall  be 
prepared  to  co-operate  in  any  practicable  proposals  having  the 
betterment  of  this  class  in  view. 

Among  many  other  problems  already  existing,  or  which  may 
arise  in  the  future,  the  above-mentioned  appear  to  us  to  com- 
prise those  most  deserving  of  immediate  attention,  and  which 
afford  the  most  reasonable  prospect  of  attaining  practical 
results ;  toward  their  solution  we  earnestly  invite  the  co- 
operation of  all  Irishmen  who  have  the  highest  interests  of 
their  country  at  heart. 

In  order  to  complete  the  history  of  the  Reform  movement, 
appended  is  the  further  and  more  detailed  report  of  the 
Association,  which  was  published  on  September  26th,  1904. 
It  consists  of  tentative  suggestions  made  primarily  in  order  to 
provide  a  basis  of  discussion ;  and  the  proposals,  roughly  out- 
lined, are  not  to  be  regarded  as  definite  and  final.  It  was  felt 
by  the  Association  that  some  platform  was  necessary  as  the 
rallying-point  of  moderate  opinion  in  Ireland  and  in  England ; 
and  the  report  is  an  endeavour  to  meet  this  need,  without 
prejudice  to  any  more  desirable  solutions  of  the  problems  of 
Irish  government  which  may  be  evolved  as  a  result  of  dis- 
cussion and  a  truer  conception  of  the  needs  of  the  Irish  people 
than  has  existed  in  the  past,  when  attention  has  been  so 
largely  concentrated  upon  mere  questions  of  party  differences 
and  religious  disputes. 

The  report  is  as  follows  : — 

In  our  report  of  the  25th  August,  we  stated  that  while 
firmly  maintaining  that  the  Parliamentary  Union  between 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  is  essential  to  the  political  stability 
of  the  Empire,  and  to  the  prosperity  of  the  two  islands,  we 
believe  that  such  Union  is  compatible  with  the  devolution  to 
Ireland  of  a  larger  measure  of  local  government  than  she  now 
possesses. 

We  now  desire  to  indicate  the  lines  on  which,  as  it  appears 
to  us,  the  devolution  proposed  by  the  Association  may  be 
carried  into  effect. 

We  deal  with  this  devolution  under  two  heads  : — 

(a)  Administrative  control  over  purely  Irish  finance  ;  and 

(b)  Certain  Parliamentary  functions  connected  with  local 
business. 


274  APPENDIX    I. 

As  regards 

ADMINISTRATIVE  CONTROL. 

1.  The   Revenue  and   Expenditure   Return   for   last   year 
(Parliamentary    Paper   No.    225,  dated    June,    1904)    gives 
^"7,548,000   as   the   expenditure    "on    Irish   services."     We 
think  that  in  apportioning  the  gross  expenditure  of  the  year — 
namely,  ^"155,496,000 — between  English,  Scotch,  Irish,  and 
General  Services,  it  would  be  fairer  to  class  the  expenditure 
on  "  Post  Offices   and   Telegraphs,"  and  on  "  Collection  of 
Taxes"  under   General  Services,  because  they  are  disburse- 
ments for  Imperial  purposes,  for  which  the  Irish  Government 
prepares  no  estimates.     If  corrected  by  the  exclusion  of  these 
and  some  other  charges  of  an  Imperial  nature  not  separately 
shown,  the  return  would  indicate  an  expenditure  on  purely 
Irish  services  of  about  ^6,000,000  of  voted  money. 

2.  To  consider  whether  this  sum  is  a  fair  assignment  of 
revenue  to  Ireland  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  her  case 
would  be  beside  the  present  question.     Such  an  inquiry  is, 
indeed,  suggested  by  the  evidence  and  report  of  the  Financial 
Relations  Commission  ;  but  in  this  report  we  confine  ourselves 
to  the  administration  of  the  six  millions  actually  voted. 

The  methods  under  which  this  sum  is  expended  do  not 
inspire  public  confidence  in  Ireland  ;  and  we  desire  to  express 
our  strong  opinion  that  if  local  knowledge  were  brought  to 
bear  upon  expenditure,  the  money  could  be  made  to  go 
further,  and  would  be  more  usefully  employed  than  it  is  under 
the  present  system.  The  effect,  we  feel  confident,  would  be  a 
great  improvement  in  the  mutual  relations  between  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  increased  confidence  in  the  government 
of  the  latter  country,  and  amelioration  in  her  economic 
condition. 

3.  We  believe  that  these  desirable  results  would  be  to  a  large 
extent  attained  if  the   control  over  purely  Irish  expenditure 
were  taken  from  the  Treasury,  which  is  now  only  interested  in 
effecting  economies  for  the  Imperial  account,  and  were  en- 
trusted under  Parliament  to  an  Irish  Financial  Council,  in- 
terested in  making  savings  for  Irish  purposes. 

4.  Power  to  raise   revenue   would   remain,   as   now,    with 
Parliament.     The  duty  of  collecting  the  revenue  would  also 
remain   an  Imperial  concern,    unless  Parliament   desired   to 
delegate  the    duty  to  the    Council,   under  prescribed    and 
revocable  conditions,   in  respect  of  any  heads  of  revenue 
localized  to  Ireland. 


IRISH  REFORM  ASSOCIATION'S    PROGRAMME.      275 

COMPOSITION  OF  THE  FINANCIAL  COUNCIL. 

5.  The  exact  composition  of  the  Council  and  the  method 
of  enrolment  is  a  matter  for  future  careful  consideration.     It 
should  be  under  the  presidency  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  and, 
as  at  present  advised,  we  think  that  it  might  consist  of  (say) 
twelve  elected  and  twelve  nominated  members,  including  the 
Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland,  who  should  be  a  member  ex  offido, 
and  Vice-President ;   that  the  County  and  Borough  Council 
constituencies,  and  the  Parliamentary  constituencies,  might  be 
gathered  into  convenient  groups,  each  group  to  return  a  member 
of  the  Council;  and  that  the  power  of  nomination  should  be 
exercised  by  the  Crown  to  secure  the  due  representation  of 
the  Government,  of  commercial  interests,  and  of  important 
minorities. 

One-third  of  the  members  of  Council  should  vacate  their 
seats,  in  rotation,  at  the  end  of  the  third  year,  but  should  be 
eligible  for  re-election  and  re-appointment. 

The  votes  of  the  majority  should  determine  the  decision  of 
the  Council — the  Lord  Lieutenant  having  only  a  casting  vote — 
and  its  decisions  should  be  final,  unless  reversed  by  the  House 
of  Commons  on  a  motion  adopted  by  not  less  than  a  one- 
fourth  majority  of  votes. 

6.  It  would  be  the  duty  of  the  Council  to  prepare  and 
submit   the   Irish   Estimates   to   Parliament   annually.      The 
Estimates  might  be  transmitted  through  the  Treasury  Board  if 
for  formal  reasons  this  was  thought  desirable.     The  audit  and 
check  over  expenditure  would  remain  as  now  with  the  Auditor- 
General  and  the  Public  Accounts  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons. 

7.  It  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  enter  into  minute  detail 
regarding  the  powers  which  should  attach  to  the  Council,  and 
the  procedure  by  which  it  should  be  governed.     On  the  former 
point,  rules  would,  we  assume,  be  prescribed  by  Parliament  for 
the  Council's  guidance.  On  the  latter  point^  the  Council  should, 
we  think,  regulate  its  own  procedure  subject  to  Parliamentary 
control.     Here   we   content   ourselves   with   saying   that   the 
Council  should  be  competent  to  examine,  supervise, -and  control 
every  item  of  expenditure,  and  to  call  for  information  relevant 
to  financial  questions  of  all  kinds,  to  propose  such  reductions 
as  it  considered  consistent  with  the  efficiency  of  the  public 
service,  and  to  apply  such  reductions  and  all  other  savings  on 
the  annual  estimates  to  the  improvement  of  the  administration, 
and  the  development  of  the  country's  resources.     Under  the 


2/6  APPENDIX    I. 

Budget  system  here  contemplated  all  such  proposals  on  the 
part  of  the  Council  would  necessarily  come  under  the  cogni- 
sance of  Parliament,  which  would  afford  an  adequate  safe- 
guard against  undue  interference  with  any  establishment  or 
service. 

THE  PROVISION  OF  FUNDS. 

8.  The  Financial  Council  might  be  placed  in  possession  of 
funds  in  three  ways  : — 

(a)  The  entire  revenue  contributed  by  Ireland  might 
be  assigned  to  her,  subject  to  payment  to  the  Treasury 
of  a  fixed  contribution,  or  of  a  contribution  regulated  by 
a  fixed  principle  ;  or 

(b)  The  estimates  for  an  average  of  years  might  be 
taken  as  the  standard  contribution  from  the  Imperial 
Exchequer  towards  Irish  expenditure  for  the  year,  or  for 
a  fixed  period  of  years ;  and  that  contribution,  with  the 
addition  of  savings  effected  by  the  Irish  Government  in 
a  preceding  year  of  the  period,  might  be  voted  and 
allocated  in  accordance  with  the  Budget  annually  sub- 
mitted by  the  Council  to  Parliament ;  or 

(c)  Certain  heads  of  revenue  and  the  income  derived 
from  them,  supplemented,  if  necessary,  by  a  grant  from 
general  revenues,  might  be  assigned  to  Ireland  either 
annually  or  for  a  period  of  years. 

9.  (a)  Is  not,  in  our  opinion,  a  desirable  method  ;  we  dislike 
the  idea  of  "  tribute,"  and  desire  to  preserve  in  substance,  as 
well  as  in  appearance,  an  interdependence  of  interest  between 
the  two  countries.     We  see  no  objection  to  the  adoption  of 
either  plan  (b)  or  (c). 

10.  (b}  requires  no  further  explanation. 

11.  If  plan  (c)  were  adopted,  we  think  that,  in  assigning 
revenue  to  meet  sanctioned  expenditure,  those  heads  of  revenue 
should  be  selected  which  admit  of  expansion  by  the  applica- 
tion of  local  knowledge,  or  by  improvement  in  administration, 
and  which,  in  regard  to  collection,  can  be  localized  in  Ireland. 

Any  assignment  of  heads  of  revenue  would,  from  time  to 
time  require  revision,  as  it  is  probable  that  the  income 
derivable  from  some  sources  of  revenue,  which  naturally 
suggested  themselves,  such  as  income  tax  and  estate  duties, 
would  diminish  in  Ireland  with  the  progress  of  land  purchase, 
though  not  diminishing  in  the  United  Kingdom,  as  a  whole. 


IRISH  REFORM  ASSOCIATION'S    PROGRAMME.      277 

We  see  no  objection  to  the  assignment,  as  an  asset  of  Irish 
revenue,  of  land  purchase  annuities,  which  now  amount  to 
nearly  ;£  1,000,000  per  annum,  and  must  rapidly  increase.  In 
a  few  years  the  income  derived  from  this  source  will  suffice  to 
feed  nearly  one-half  the  Irish  expenditure.  The  employment 
of  it  for  that  purpose  will  enable  the  Treasury  to  meet  the 
interest  on  the  Land  Purchase  Loans,  and  the  claims  of  the 
Sinking  Fund  from  moneys  already  in  their  hands,  and  thus 
relieve  them  from  any  possible  anxiety  touching  the  punctual 
payment  of  their  annuities  by  Irish  tenant  purchasers. 

But  even  if  the  sources  of  income  indicated  above  be  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  Ireland,  a  grant  from  the  Imperial  revenue 
to  adjust  Irish  receipts  and  expenditure  would  be  necessary. 
Such  a  grant  might,  with  advantage,  take  the  shape  of  a  per- 
centage on  one  or  more  of  the  great  heads  of  Imperial 
revenue. 

12.  If  a  financial  contract  for  a  fixed  period  of  years  were 
made  with  the  Treasury,  Ireland  should  be  secured  in  the  full 
enjoyment  of  the   results   of  better  financial  administration 
during  the  contractual  period.    But  whether  a  contract  is  made 
or  not,  the  Council  should  be  entitled  to  carry  forward  balances 
and  to  meet  deficits  under  one  head  of  expenditure  by  savings 
under  another.     Supplementary  Estimates  would  cease  to  be 
submitted  to  Parliament.     Savings  on  Ireland's   contribution 
to  "General  Services"  would  be  available  for  the  reduction  of 
the  Public  Debt. 

We  should  have  no  objection  to  the  Treasury  Board  exercis- 
ing such  degree  of  supervision  over  the  Irish  Financial  Depart- 
ment as  will  assure  it  of  the  due  observance  of  uniform  pro- 
cedure and  prescribed  rule. 

13.  In  the  event  of  further  subventions  in  aid  of  local  taxa- 
tion in  Great  Britain  being  granted   by  Parliament,  Ireland 
would,  of  course,  be  entitled  to  an  equivalent  grant  in  addition 
to  the  funds  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Financial  Council  as 
above  mentioned. 

14.  The  Irish  Government  should  take  over  and  continue 
the  existing  arrangements  under  which  loans  for  public  purposes 
and  land  improvement  are  now  made  in  Ireland.     The  prose- 
cution  of  large  schemes  of  drainage   and  land  reclamation, 
which  in  the  new  conditions  of  a  peasant  proprietary  should 
become  State  concerns — improved  railway  and  other  means 
of  communication,  harbour   construction,  and   the   like,  are 
matters  which  may  call  for  the  support  or  initiative  of  the  Irish 


278  APPENDIX    I. 

Government.  In  respect  of  them  the  right  of  the  Irish  Govern- 
ment to  look  to  the  Treasury  Board  for  financial  aid  on  suitable 
conditions,  will,  of  course,  follow  from  the  fact  that  Ireland 
continues  to  contribute  to  the  General  Exchequer. 

15.  It  is  essential  that  the  chief  spending  department  in 
Ireland,  the  Board  of  Works,  which  is  now  subordinate  to  the 
Treasury,  should  come  directly  under  the  undivided  control  of 
the  Irish  Government,   and  that   the  responsibility   to   that 
Government  of  the  numerous  other  boards  and  departments, 
now  operating  with  much   irresponsibility,  should  be   made 
clear  and  complete. 

DEVOLUTION  OF  IRISH  BUSINESS. 

As  regards  the  devolution  of  power  to  deal  with  Irish  Parlia- 
mentary business, 

1 6.  It  is,  as  we  believe,  by  common  consent  admitted  that 
the  existing  system  of  Private  Bill  Procedure  deprives  Parlia- 
ment of  a  great  deal  of  that  local  knowledge  essential  to  enable 
it  to  arrive  at  wise  and  just  decisions  ;  and  that,  being  incon- 
venient, cumbrous,  and  most  expensive,  it  frequently  acts  as  a 
deterrent  instead  of  an   encouragement  to  municipal,    com- 
mercial, and  industrial  enterprise.    The  desirability  of  a  Private 
Bill  Procedure  Act  for  Ireland  has  been  repeatedly  admitted 
by  the  Government,  whose  only  reason  for  not  undertaking  to 
deal  with  it  appears  to  have  been  the  desire  to  observe  the 
results  of  the  working  of  the  Scotch  Act.     Those  results  are 
now  known.  The  general  success  of  the  Scotch  Act  is  admitted ; 
and  there  remains  no  justification  that  we  can  perceive  for  any 
longer  postponing  legislation  for  Ireland  on  somewhat  similar 
lines. 

But  the  disabilities  under  which  Ireland  labours  are  not 
confined  to  Private  Bill  Procedure.  The  problems  that  affect 
her  well-being,  the  peculiarities  of  her  position  and  require- 
ments, are  such  that  similarity  of  treatment  does  not  always 
involve  equal  justice.  Her  case  is,  in  many  respects,  excep 
tional — a  fact  which  is  admitted  in  the  Act  of  Union. 

The  great  and  increasing  difficulty  which  Parliament  finds 
in  dealing  with  the  unwieldy  mass  of  business  that  comes 
before  it  is,  we  believe,  very  generally  admitted.  Under 
existing  circumstances  the  special  needs  of  Ireland  do  not  and 
cannot  receive  adequate  attention.  Sufficient  relief  cannot,  in 
our  opinion,  be  afforded  by  mere  amendment  in  the  standing 
orders  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Some  delegation  of 


IRISH  REFORM  ASSOCIATION'S    PROGRAMME.      279 

authority  is  necessary.  We  believe  that  power  to  deal  with 
much  of  the  business  relating  to  Irish  affairs  which  Parliament 
is  at  present  unable  to  cope  with  might,  with  perfect  safety, 
and  with  advantage  both  to  Ireland  and  Parliament,  be 
delegated  to  an  Irish  body  to  be  constituted  for  the  purpose. 

17.  We  are  thus  led  to  the  considerations  of  the  constitution 
of  a  Statutory  Body,  and  of  the  business  to  be  delegated  to  it. 

On  the  first  point,  we  suggest  that  this  body  might  be  com- 
posed of  Irish  representative  Peers  and  members  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  representing  Irish  constituencies,  and  of  members 
of  the  Financial  Council,  which  would  thus  become  an  extra 
Parliamentary  panel  for  the  purpose.  In  order  to  enlarge  the 
panel,  and  thus  widen  the  field  of  choice,  we  are  disposed  to 
recommend  that  past  as  well  as  present  members  of  the 
Financial  Council  might  be  eligible. 

On  the  second  point,  we  suggest  that  Parliament  should 
confer  on  the  Statutory  Body  authority  to  promote  Bills  for 
purely  Irish  purposes,  including  some  of  those  now  dealt  with 
by  Provisional  Orders  of  the  Local  Government  Board  and 
the  Board  of  Works ;  and  that  Parliament  should  take  power 
to  refer  to  the  Statutory  Body,  not  only  business  connected 
with  Private  Bill  Legislation,  but  also  such  other  matters  as  in 
its  wisdom  it  may  deem  suitable  for  reference,  under  prescribed 
conditions.  The  experience  gained  by  this  method  of  'ad 
hoc '  reference  would  materially  assist  Parliament  in  the 
ultimate  grouping  into  distinct  classes  of  matters  to  be  referred 
to  the  Statutory  Body. 

1 8.  We  do  not  consider  it  now  opportune  to  make  more 
definite  proposals  on  the  points  herein  raised.     We  are  pre- 
pared to  inquire  fully  into  them  if  the  Association  so  desire  ; 
but  we  submit  that  inquiry  can  be  best  conducted  by  means  of 
a  Royal  Commission,  and  that  the  proper  function  of  this 
Association  is  to  place  its  opinions  and  propositions  before 
such  a  Commission.     We,  therefore,  recommend  the  Associa- 
tion to  use  its  best  endeavours  to  secure  the  appointment  of  a 
Commission,  and  to  instruct  this  or  some  other  Committee  to 
prepare  a  detailed  report  for  its  consideration,  with  a  view  to 
placing  the  same  in  evidence  before  the  Commission. 

SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  AMELIORATION. 

19.  The  preceding  remarks  have  dealt  with  the   political 
portion  of  the  report  adopted  at  the  meeting  held  on  the  26th 
August  last ;  but  before  concluding  we  wish  to  make  a  few 


280  APPENDIX    I. 

observations  on  another  aspect  of  the  Irish  question.  Though 
much  of  the  social  unrest  and  industrial  stagnation  which 
unfortunately  exist  in  Ireland  is,  in  our  opinion,  due  to  defec- 
tive government,  it  is  not  all  attributable  to  that  cause.  We 
attach  the  greatest  importance  to  the  opinions  expressed  in 
our  former  report  on  the  purely  social  and  economic  aspects  of 
the  situation  ;  and  we  suggest  the  appointment  of  a  Committee 
to  watch,  and  from  time  to  time  report  on,  such  matters  as  the 
condition  of  the  labouring  classes,  the  question  of  local  rating, 
the  working  of  the  Land  Act  in  respect  to  purchase,  the  re- 
instatement of  evicted  tenants,  the  progress  of  improvement  in 
the  congested  districts,  and  on  other  matters  bearing  on  the 
social  and  economic  welfare  of  the  country. 

We  reiterate  the  desire  expressed  in  our  former  report  to  do 
all  in  our  power  to  further  the  policy  of  land-purchase  in  the 
spirit  of,  and  on  the  general  lines  laid  down  in,  the  Land 
Conference  Report. 


INDIRECT    AND    DIRECT    TAXATION. 


28l 


II. 

INDIRECT  AND  DIRECT  TAXATION,  AND  ITS 
INCIDENCE. 

Statement  showing  how  much  per  capita  of  the  Estimated  True 
Revenue  derived  from  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  respectively, 
represents  the  proceeds  of  Taxes  on  Commodities  or  Indirect 
Taxes,  and  how  much  represents  the  proceeds  of  other  Taxes 
or  Direct  Taxes,  since  the  amalgamation  of  the  British  and 
Irish  Exchequers.  {Summarized  from  the  Report  of  the 
Financial  Relations  Commission!) 

(N.B. — The  estimated  true  revenue  from  taxes  is  the  collected  revenue 
in  each  Kingdom,  exclusive  of  Imperial  receipts,  after  being  adjusted  in 
accordance  with  Parliamentary  Paper  313  of  1894.) 


Taxes  or  Commodities. 

Other  Taxes. 

Total  Tax  Revenue. 

Great 
Britain. 

Ireland. 

Great 
Britain. 

Ireland. 

Great 
Britain. 

Ireland. 

£    s.  d. 

~j£     s.    d. 

£    s.    d. 

£   s.   d. 

£   s.    d. 

£  S-    d. 

1819-20 

8    7 

0   II      0 

I      I      8 

0    3    5 

3  I0    3 

o  14    5 

1829-30 

2      I 

o  ii     6 

o  15  ii 

o    i     7 

2    l8      0 

o  13    i 

1839-40 

14    4 

O    II       I 

o  13    i 

o     i     4 

275 

0    12      5 

1849-50 

10    3 

O    12      2 

o  17    5 

019 

2    7    8 

o  13  ii 

1859-60 

ii     7 

o    7 

o  18    5 

049 

2   10     0 

5    4 

1869-70 

5    8 

o    6 

8    o    i 

o    4  ii 

259 

5    5 

1879-80 

3     7 

O      I 

o  16  10 

o    4  10 

205 

4  ii 

1889-90 

3    2 

3    2 

I      0      2 

o    5  10 

234 

9    o 

1893-94 

4     i 

2      O 

i     o    9 

o    6  10 

2     4   IO 

8  10 

1903-04' 

10     7 

8    3 

i  ii     4 

o  10  10 

3     i  ii 

19    i 

Increase   +  or 

decrease     - 

since  1820  ... 

-o  18    o 

-fo  17    3 

+  098 

+  075 

-084 

+  148 

Increase  -f  or 

decrease     — 

per  cent,  since 

1820 

-i  17    7 

+  7  16    8 

+  246 

+  10  17    o 

-o  ii    7 

+  8  ii     i 

1  Figures  supplied   by  the    Chancellor  of  the   Exchequer  (House  of 
Commons,  April   I3th,  1905)  ;  but  it  was  not  stated  if  they  referred  to 

"true  revenue  "  or  "  revenue  as  collected."    The  difference,  however,  is 

not  very  great  between  the  two  ;  and  presumably  Mr.  Austen  Chamberlain 
gave  the  "  true  revenue,"  as  usual  under  such  circumstances. 

282  APPENDIX    II. 

In  the  House  of  Commons  on  May  2ist,  1906,  the  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer  stated  that  it  was  estimated  that  the 
tax  revenue  to  be  contributed  by  Great  Britain  in  1906-7 
(excluding  Coal  Duty,  but  including  the  local  taxation 
revenues)  would  consist  of  52-3  per  cent,  direct  taxes,  and 
477  per  cent,  indirect  taxes.  For  Ireland  the  estimated 
proportions  were  28-8  per  cent,  direct,  and  71-2  per  cent, 
indirect.  The  proportions  of  direct  and  indirect  taxation  in 
1904-5  were — for  Great  Britain,  50-8  per  cent,  direct,  and 
49-2  per  cent,  indirect ;  for  Ireland,  27-4  per  cent,  direct,  and 
72*6  per  cent,  indirect.  In  1905-6  the  proportions  were 
approximately — for  Great  Britain,  51*7  per  cent,  direct,  and 
48-3  per  cent,  indirect;  for  Ireland,  28-3  per  cent,  direct,  and 
71-7  per  cent,  indirect. 


IRELAND'S  LOSS  OF  POPULATION. 


283 


III. 

IRELAND'S   LOSS  OF  POPULATION. 

Table  showing  the  population  of  Ireland  in  comparison  with 
that  of  the  United  Kingdom. 


Census  of 
5th  April. 

Great  Britain. 

Ireland. 

United  Kingdom. 

Ireland. 
Per  cent  of 
United 
Kingdom. 

l82I 

I4»09I,757 

6,801,827 

20,893,584 

32-5 

I83I 

16,361,183 

7,767,401 

24,128,584 

32-0 

1841 

18,534,332 

8,175.124 

26,709,456 

31-0 

1851 

20,816,351 

6,574,278 

27,390,629 

24-0 

1861 

23,128,518 

5.798,967 

28,927,485 

20'0 

1871 

26,072,284 

5,412,377 

31,484,661 

I7-0 

1881 

29,710,012 

5,174,836 

34,884,848 

15-0 

1891 

33,028,172 

4,704,750 

37,732,922 

I2'5 

1899 

36,024,438 

4,535,516 

40,559,954 

II-2 

Ii9oo 

36,683,879 

4,466,326 

41,150,205 

10-85 

1901 

37,103,328 

4,443,370 

41,546,698 

10.69 

1902 

37,528,925 

4,432,287 

41,961,212 

10.56 

1903 

37.9S7.56l 

4,414,995 

42,372,556 

IO'42 

1904 

38,391,090 

4,398,462 

42,789,552 

10-28 

1905 

38,829,580 

4,388,107 

43,217,687 

10-15 

1  The  estimates  of  population  in  1900  and  subsequent  years  are  based 
on  the  results  of  the  Census  of  1901.  For  1899  the  estimate  formerly 
made  on  the  results  of  the  Census  of  1891  is  retained. 


284 


APPENDIX    III. 


Table  showing  for  each  of  the  years  1895-1905  the  number  of 
Emigrants  enumerated,  with  the  rates  per  1,000  of  the 
estimated  Population  of  Marriages,  Births,  Deaths,  and 
Emigrants  ;  and  the  averages  for  the  ten  years  1895-1904. 


Years. 

Number  of 
Emigrants  as 
returned  by  the 
Enumerators. 

Rate  per  1,000  of  Estimated  Population. 

Marriages. 

Births. 

Deaths. 

Emigrants. 

1895     

48,703 

5-07 

23-3 

18-5 

107 

1896     

38,995 

5-08 

237 

I67 

8-6 

1897      

32,535 

5-05 

23-5 

18-5 

7-2 

1898      

32,241 

S-oo 

23-3 

18-2 

7'l 

1899      

4L232 

4-96 

23-1 

177 

9-2 

1900      ... 

45,288 

477 

22'7 

I9'6 

IO'I 

1901      ... 

39,613 

5-o8 

227 

17-8 

8-9 

I9O2      ... 

40,190 

5-i8 

23-0 

17-5 

9-1 

1903      - 

39,789 

5-21 

23-1 

I7'5 

9-0 

1904      ... 
Yearly  Average,  1895-1904 
1905     ... 

36,902 

5-22 

23-6 

18-1 

8-4 

39,549 

5-06 

23-2 

18-0 

8-8 

30,676 

5-26 

23^ 

17-1 

7-0 

BRITISH    AND    IRISH    PROGRESS. 


285 


IV. 
BRITISH  AND   IRISH   PROGRESS. 

Table  from  Appendix  to  Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  on 
the  Financial  Relations  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
showing  the  progress  made  by  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
respectively,  between  1870  (or  the  earliest  year  for  which  infor- 
mation is  available]  and  1894  (or  the  latest  year),  as  regards 
the  undermentioned  particulars '. 


Increase  +  or  Decrease  — 
in  Great  Britain. 

Increase  +  or  Decrease  — 
in  Ireland. 

Amount. 

Per  cant. 

Amount. 

Per  cent. 

Population 

Thousands 

+  8,757 

+    34-0 

-    829 

-15-3 

Excess  of  births  over 
deaths 

,, 

+     125-2 

+    39'3 

-     377 

-63-4 

Pauperism  : 
Mean  number  of  pau- 
pers in  receipt  of 
relief  at  one  time     ... 

-     286 

-    24-5 

+     30 

Criminal  offenders  con- 
victed 

Number 

-  3.782 

-    24-6 

-  ».579 

-51-8 

Education  : 
Average  number   of 
pupils  in  attendance 
at  primary  schools  ... 

Thousands 

+  3.340 

+  229-9 

+   167 

446-5 

Live  stock  : 
Number  of  cattle 

,, 

+     944 

+    17-5 

+   596 

+  157 

Number  of  sheep 

H 

-  2,536 

-     8-9 

-  229 

-    5'3 

Number  of  pigs 

„ 

+     219 

+    io-  1 

-     70 

-    4-8 

Income    tax    assess- 
ments : 
Total  gross  amount  of 

Thous.  j£  s. 

-1-  248,733 

+    59'4 

+  12,483 

+  47'9 

286 


APPENDIX    V. 


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288  APPENDIX   VI. 


VI. 

THE  WYNDHAM-MACDONNELL 
CORRESPONDENCE. 

THE  following  is  a  copy  of  the  correspondence  (read  in  the 
House  of  Commons  on  February  22nd,  1905)  which  passed 
between  Mr.  George  Wyndham  and  Sir  Antony  MacDonnell, 
on  the  latter's  accepting  the  position  of  Under  Secretary  : — 

September  22nd,  1902. 
DEAR  MR.  WYNDHAM, 

I  told  you  I  had  been  offered  and  accepted  nomination  to  a 
seat  on  the  Council  of  India,  and  that  it  would  be  necessary 
for  me  to  consult  Lord  George  Hamilton  before  anything  was 
settled  regarding  the  Irish  appointment.  I  have  now  seen 
Lord  George  Hamilton,  and  understand  from  him  there  would 
probably  be  no  difficulty  in  allowing  me  to  retain  a  seat  on  the 
Indian  Council,  and  lend  my  services  to  the  Irish  Government. 
This  procedure  would  be  in  accordance  with  my  own  wishes, 
and  it  would  strengthen  my  position  in  Ireland  if  I  go  there. 
If  the  matter,  through  Lord  George  Hamilton's  considerate- 
ness,  is  simplified  in  this  direction,  there  still  remains  the 
difficulty  to  which  I  alluded  when  I  saw  you.  I  have  been 
anxiously  passing  over  this  difficulty  in  my  own  mind.  You 
know  I  am  an  Irishman,  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  a  Liberal  in 
politics.  I  have  strong  Irish  sympathies,  and  I  do  not  see  eye 
to  eye  with  you  on  all  matters  of  Irish  administration  ;  and  I 
see  no  likelihood  of  good  coming  from  such  a  r'egime  of 
coercion  as  "The  Times  "  has  recently  outlined.  On  the  other 
hand,  from  the  exposition  you  are  good  enough  to  give  me  of 
your  views,  and  from  the  estimates  I  have  had  of  your  aims 
and  objects,  I  find  there  is  a  substantial  measure  of  agreement 
between  us.  Moreover,  I  would  be  glad  to  be  of  some  service 
to  Ireland,  and,  therefore,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  situation 
goes  beyond  the  sphere  of  mere  party  politics.  I  should  be 
willing  to  take  office  under  you,  provided  there  is  some  chance 
of  my  succeeding — and  I  think  there  is  some  chance  of 
success — on  this  condition,  that  I  should  have  adequate  oppor- 
tunities of  influencing  the  policy  and  acts  of  the  Irish 
Administration ;  and,  subject  of  course  to  your  control, 


WYNDHAM-MACDONNELL    CORRESPONDENCE.    289 

freedom  of  action  in  Executive  matters.  For  many  years  in 
India  I  directed  administration  on  a  large  scale ;  and  I  know 
if  you  send  me  to  Ireland  the  opportunity  of  a  mere  secre- 
tarial criticism  would  fall  far  short  of  the  requirements  of  my 
position.  In  Ireland,  my  aim  would  be  the  maintenance  of 
order,  the  solution  of  the  Land  question  on  the  basis  of  volun- 
tary sale,  the  fixing  of  rents  where  sales  may  not  take  place  on 
some  self-acting  principle  whereby  local  enquiries  would  be 
obviated  ;  the  co-ordination,  control,  and  direction  of  Boards 
and  other  administrative  agencies ;  the  settlement  of  the 
Education  question  in  the  general  spirit  of  Mr.  Balfour's 
views  ;  and  the  general  promotion  of  material  improvement  and 
administrative  conciliation,  I  am  sure  you  will  not  misinter- 
pret this  letter.  I  am  greatly  attracted  by  the  chance  of  doing 
some  good  for  Ireland.  My  best  friends  tell  me  that  I  am 
deluding  myself,  and  that  I  shall  be  abused  by  Orangemen  as  a 
Roman  Catholic  or  Home  Ruler,  and  denounced  by  the  Home 
Rulers  as  a  renegade,  and  that  I  shall  do  no  good,  and  shall 
retire  disgusted  within  a  year.  But  I  am  willing  to  try  the 
business  under  the  colours  and  conditions  I  mention.  It  is  for 
you  to  decide  whether  the  trial  is  worth  making.  In  any  event 
I  shall  be  your  debtor  for  having  thought  of  me  in  connection 
with  a  great  work. 

Yours  sincerely, 

A.    MACDONNELL. 


25th  September,  1902. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  ANTONY, 

Your  letter  was  most  welcome.  I  accept  your  offer  to  serve 
in  the  Irish  Government  with  gratitude  to  you  and  confidence 
that  your  action  will  be  for  the  good  of  your  country.  When 
Sir  David  Harrel  resigns,  I  shall  accordingly  nominate  you  as 
his  successor ;  and  it  is  understood  between  us  that  I  make, 
and  you  accept,  this  appointment  on  the  lines  and  under  the 
conditions  laid  down  in  your  letter. 

With  a  view  to  compassing  the  objects  which  you  hold  to  be 
of  primary  importance — namely,  the  maintenance  of  order;  the 
placing  of  the  Land  question  on  the  basis  of  voluntary  sale ; 
and,  where  that  proves  impossible,  of  substituting  some  simple 
automatic  system  of  revising  rents  in  place  of  the  present 
existing  expensive  and  costly  process,  entailing  litigation  ;  the 
co-ordination  of  detached  and  semi-detached  Boards  and 

U 


2QO  APPENDIX   VI. 

Departments;  the  settlement  of  Education  in  a  form  accept- 
able to  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  ;  and  administrative 
conciliation.  To  these  I  add  (i)  consolidation  and  increase 
of  existing  grants  for  Irish  local  purposes,  with  the  view  of 
reducing  rates  where  they  are  prohibitive  of  enterprise ;  (2)  if 
we  are  spared  long  enough,  the  development  of  transit  for 
agricultural  and  other  products,  possibly  by  guarantees  to 
railways,  on  the  Canadian  model ;  but  this  is  far  off.  We  have 
each  of  us  terminated  an  option  in  the  lease  I  have  all  along 
desired. 

I  ciphered  the  purport  of  your  letter  to  the  Prime  Minister, 
and  received  his  concurrence  by  telegram  yesterday,  and  by 
letter  to-day.  It  is  understood  that  you  accept  a  seat  on  the 
India  Council,  and  are  to  be  transferred  when  the  vacancy 
occurs. 

I  shall  ask  Lord  George  Hamilton  to  see  that  the  Press 
understands  and  insists  upon  your  great  administrative  services 
in  India.  That  will  prepare  the  public  for  the  further  move. 
I  can  only  thank  you  again  with  all  my  heart  for  coming  to  my 
assistance. 

Yours  sincerely, 

GEORGE  WYNDHAM. 


THE    HOME    RULE    BILLS.  2QI 


VII. 

THE  HOME  RULE  BILLS. 

THE  following  is  a  summary  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  Home  Rule 
Bill  (introduced  April  8th,  1886) : — 

(1)  A  Legislative  Body  to   sit  in    Dublin,   and    have   the 
control    of   the   Executive   Government   of  Ireland   and   its 
legislative  business. 

The  Parliament  to  be  composed  of  two  orders,  with  power 
in  either  to  demand  separate  voting,  and  thus  put  an  absolute 
veto  on  a  proposal  of  legislation  till  the  next  dissolution,  or  for 
a  period  of  three  years. 

(a)  The  first  to  consist  of  28  Representative  Peers, 
and  75  other  members,  elected  for  ten  years  by  voters 
having  ^25  a  year  qualification,  and  possessed  of  a 
property  qualification  of  ^200  per  annum.     The  present 
28  Representative  Peers  to  form  part  of  this  Body  at 
their  option,  with  limited  power  of  the  Crown  to  fill  up 
vacancies  within  a  defined  period. 

(b)  The  Second  Order  to  consist  of  the  present  103 
University,  County,  and   Borough  members,  with  the 
addition  of  101  elected  for  five  years. 

The  Irish  members  to  cease  to  sit  at  Westminster. 

(2)  The  Executive  to  remain  as  now  for  the  present,  but 
subject  to  any  changes  which  might  be  worked  out  by  the  new 
Legislative  Body.     The   Viceroy   to   be   assisted  by   a  Privy 
Council,  and,  not  being  the  representative  of  any  party,  he 
would  not  go  out  of  office  with  the  Government.    The  religious 
disability  at  present  attached  to  that  office  to  be  removed. 

(3)  Law. 

(a)  The  Judges  of  the  Superior  Court  now  holding 
office,  who  desire  it,  may  demand  a  retiring  pension. 
In  future  to  hold  office  during  good  behaviour,  their 
salaries  to  be  charged  on  the  Irish  Consolidated  Fund  ; 
to  be  removable  only  by  a  joint  address  from  the  two 
Orders  of  the  Legislative  Body ;  and  appointed  under 
the  influence  of  the  responsible  Irish  Government. 
An  exception  is  made  in  the  case  of  the  Court  of 
Exchequer. 


2Q2  APPENDIX   VII. 

(b)  The  Irish  Constabulary  to  remain  for  the  present 
under  the  same  terms  of  service  and  the  same  authority; 
the  British  Consolidated  Fund  to  contribute  to  its 
support  anything  it  might  cost  in  excess  of  ;£i, 000,000, 
the  Irish  Legislature,  after  two  years,  having  the  right 
to  fix  the  charge  for  the  whole  Police  and  Constabulary 
of  Ireland,  with  a  saving  of  existing  rights.  The  ques- 
tion of  the  ordinary  Police  is  left  open. 

(4)  Civil  Service. — The  Service  in  the  future  to  be   abso- 
lutely  under  the  Legislative  Body.     Present  Civil  Servants, 
after  two  years,  to  be  entitled  to  claim  a  discharge  on  the 
terms  usual  when  offices  are  abolished. 

(5)  Finance. 

(a)  Imperial  Charges. — Ireland   to   contribute   one- 
fifteenth  to  the  public  expenditure,   instead  of  one- 
twelfth  as  at  present,  with  the  result  that  the  revenue 
from   the  Customs,  Excise,  Stamps,  Income  Tax,  and 
Post  Office  would  amount  in  future  to  ^8,350,000  ; 
the  charges  payable  for  Ireland  for  Army,  Navy,  Civil 
Service,  Constabulary,  and  Sinking  Fund  of  the  Irish 
portion    of    the    National    Debt,    would    amount    to 
^£7,946,000,  leaving  a  surplus  of  ^404,000. 

(b)  Taxation.     The  power  of  taxation  to  be  granted 
to  the  new  Legislative  Body,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Excise  and  Customs. 

(6)  Securities. — To  be  formulated  for  :  — 

(a)  Unity  of  the  Empire. 

(b)  Protection  of  the  minority,  including  landlords, 
Civil  Servants,  and  all  concerned  in  the  government  of 
the  country. 

(c)  Protestants. 

The  Bill  of  1893  constituted  an  Irish  Legislature,  consisting, 
first,  of  a  Legislative  Council,  and,  secondly,  of  a  Legislative 
Assembly,  with  power  "to  make  laws  for  the  peace,  order,  and 
"  good  government  of  Ireland,  in  respect  of  matters  exclusively 
"  relating  to  Ireland,  or  to  some  part  thereof."  That  power 
was  subject  to  the  double  limitation  that  certain  heads  were 
reserved  to  Parliament  by  way  of  excluding  the  new  Irish 
Legislature  from  doing  any  act  in  relation  to  them,  and  that 


THE    HOME    RULE    BILLS.  2Q3 

certain  incapacities  were  imposed  upon  the  new  Legislature. 
The  exceptions  from  the  powers  of  the  Irish  Legislature  were 
all  that  relates  to  the  Crown,  the  Regency,  and  the  Viceroyalty; 
to  peace  and  war,  to  defence,  to  treaties  and  foreign  relations, 
and  to  dignities  and  titles  ;  the  law  of  treason,  the  law  of 
alienage,  and  everything  that  belongs  to  external  trade ;  the 
subject  of  coinage,  and  some  other  minor  and  subsidiary 
subjects. 

Then,  as  regards  the  incapacities  imposed,  they  were  intended 
for  the  security  of  religious  freedom — and  there  they  touch 
upon  establishments  and  education — and  for  the  security  of 
personal  freedom,  with  respect  to  which  they  had  endeavoured 
to  borrow  from  one  of  the  modern  amendments  of  the 
American  Constitution. 

As  to  the  Executive  power:  it  was  proposed  to  divest 
the  Viceroyalty  of  Ireland,  so  far  as  possible,  of  that  party 
character  which  it  bore,  and  to  provide  that  the  appointment 
should  run  for  six  years,  but  subject,  of  course,  to  the  revoking 
power  of  the  Crown.  The  office  was  to  be  freed  of  all  religious 
disabilities. 

Then  came  a  clause  providing  for  the  full  devolution  of 
Executive  power  from  the  Sovereign  upon  the  Viceroy. 
Provision  was  made  for  the  appointment  of  an  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  in  Ireland,  which  should  be 
so  constituted  as  to  be,  in  effect,  the  practical  Council  for 
ordinary  affairs,  or  the  Cabinet  of  the  Viceroy. 

As  to  the  veto,  it  was  provided  that,  on  the  advice  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council,  the  Viceroy  would 
give  or  withhold  his  consent  to  Bills,  subject,  however,  to  the 
instructions  of  the  Sovereign.  The  Legislative  Council  would 
number  48 ;  its  term  would  be  eight  years  ;  and  a  new  con- 
stituency would  be  constituted  for  it,  which,  in  the  first  place, 
must  be  associated  with  a  value  about  £20  on  valuation  ;  with 
that  figure  they  hoped  to  secure  an  aggregate  constituency 
approaching  170,000  persons.  In  that  constituency  owners 
were  included  as  well  as  occupiers,  but  no  owner  or  occupier 
was  to  vote  in  more  than  one  constituency.  There  was  no 
provision  in  the  Bill  to  make  the  Legislative  Council  alterable 


2Q4  APPENDIX   VII. 

by  Irish  action.  With  regard  to  the  Legislative  Assembly,  the 
number  was  left  at  103.  A  term  of  five  years  was  fixed;  the  bill 
left  the  constituency  as  it  was  now,  and  these  members  would 
be  elected  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  Irish  Legislative 
business  by  constituencies  in  Ireland.  The  provisions  as  to  the 
Assembly  were  made  alterable  with  respect  to  electors  and 
constituencies  after  the  term  of  six  years ;  but,  in  altering 
constituencies,  the  power  of  the  Assembly  was  to  be  limited  by 
a  declaration  in  the  Act  that  there  must  be  due  regard  had  to 
the  distribution  of  population. 

The  proposition  as  to  deadlock  was  that  in  cases  where  a  Bill 
had  been  adopted  by  the  Assembly  more  than  once,  and  where 
there  had  been  an  interval  between  the  two  adoptions  either 
of  two  years  or  else  marked  by  a  dissolution  of  Parliament, 
then,  upon  the  second  adoption,  the  two  Assemblies  might  be 
required  to  meet  together,  and  the  fate  of  the  Bill  was  to  be 
decided  by  the  Joint  Assembly.  Appeals  would  lie  to  the 
Privy  Council  alone,  and  not  to  the  Privy  Council  and  the 
House  of  Lords.  The  Privy  Council  might  try  a  question  of 
the  invalidity  of  an  Irish  Act,  or,  as  it  was  sometimes  called, 
ultra  vires  :  not,  however,  upon  the  initiative  of  irrespon- 
sible persons,  but  upon  the  initiative  either  of  the  Viceroy  or 
Secretary  of  State.  The  Judges  were  declared  irremovable  ; 
and  clauses  were  inserted  to  secure  the  emoluments  of  existing 
Judges,  and  of  existing  civil  officers  generally.  Two  Exchequer 
Judges  were  to  be  appointed  under  the  authority  of  the  Crown 
for  the  purpose  mainly,  perhaps,  of  financial  business,  but 
generally  of  that  business  which  was  Imperial.  Besides  the 
appointment  of  the  Exchequer  Judges  under  the  Great  Seal  of 
the  United  Kingdom,  it  was  provided  that  for  six  years  all 
Judges  should  be  appointed  as  they  now  are ;  and  in  regard  to 
future  appointments  they  did  not  assume  to  the  Imperial 
authority  any  power  of  fixing  the  emoluments.  These  emolu- 
ments would  be  fixed  in  Ireland,  and  the  effect  would  be  to 
establish  a  joint  control  over  these  appointments.  A  clause  in 
the  Bill  provided  that  the  Legislative  Assembly  should  meet 
on  the  first  Tuesday  in  September,  1894.  There  were  clauses 
securing  the  sole  initiative  in  money  bills  to  the  Assembly,  and 


THE    HOME    RULE    BILLS.  2Q5 

also  providing  that  the  Assembly  should  not  have  within  itself 
an  initiative,  except  upon  the  prior  initiative  of  the  Viceroy. 

Then  there  was  a  clause  about  financial  arrangements, 
providing  that  they  might  be  readjusted  and  reconsidered  after 
fifteen  years,  upon  an  address  either  from  the  House  of 
Commons  or  from  the  Legislative  Assembly.  The  principles 
recognized  as  applicable  to  the  Constabulary  were  a  gradual 
and  not  too  abrupt  reduction,  with  the  ultimate  dissolution  or 
disappearance  of  the  Force. 

It  was  proposed  to  retain  the  Irish  members  at  Westminster, 
but  to  reduce  their  number  to  80,  which  was  according  to  the 
ratio  of  Irish  population  to  the  population  of  the  rest  of  the 
country.  For  these  members  there  would  have  to  be  a  new 
election.  They  would,  firstly,  be  excluded  from  voting  upon 
any  Bill  or  motion  expressly  confined  to  Great  Britain ; 
secondly,  on  any  tax  not  levied  in  Ireland ;  thirdly,  on  any 
vote  or  appropriation  of  money  otherwise  than  for  Imperial 
services ;  and,  fourthly,  on  any  motion  or  resolution  exclu- 
sively affecting  Great  Britain  or  person  or  persons  therein. 

As  to  finance,  the  keynote  to  the  proposals  was  that  there 
should  be  but  one  system  of  legislating  for  all  the  kingdom  on 
commercial  affairs  :  unity  of  commercial  legislation  for  all  the 
three  kingdoms.  By  adopting  this  keynote,  clashing  and 
friction  between  the  agents  of  the  Imperial  Government  and 
the  agents  of  the  Irish  Government  would  be  avoided.  The 
Bill  made,  under  cover  of  this  proposition,  a  larger  and  more 
liberal  transfer  to  Ireland  of  the  management  of  her  own 
affairs  than  could  be  made  if  it  proceeded  upon  any  other 
principle.  For  example,  it  was  hoped  to  escape  in  this  way 
from  all  collection  in  the  interior  of  Ireland  of  any  revenue 
whatever  by  Imperial  authorities.  The  principle  was  that 
Ireland  was  to  bear  her  fair  share  of  Imperial  expenditure, 
the  word  "  Imperial "  being  defined  in  the  schedule  which 
gave  a  list  of  Imperial  services. 


Printed  by  PONSOWBY  4  GIBBS,  University  Press,  Dublin. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

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